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/ 25 February 2008

Kenyan political foes resume crisis talks

Kenyan leaders were due on Monday to resume power-sharing talks to end the political crisis in the East African state that has sparked violence which has claimed more than 1 000 lives. The negotiations on a power-sharing deal have stalled on the term and powers of a would-be prime minister, a position that currently does not exist.

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/ 23 February 2008

AU boss pushes for deal in Kenya

African Union Commission chief Jean Ping pushed on Friday for a quick resolution of Kenya’s political crisis, but there was no sign that a power-sharing deal was imminent. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, however, insisted he was Kenya’s rightful leader and refused to rule out further mass protests planned for next week.

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/ 21 February 2008

Kenya govt agrees to PM post

Kenya’s government said on Thursday it agreed in principle to creating a prime minister’s post demanded by the opposition, in a possible breakthrough for a political crisis some worry could explode into violence again. Local and international pressure has grown for a deal to end the stand-off over President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election on December 27.

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/ 20 February 2008

Kenya talks continue, deal remains elusive

Kenya’s feuding political parties returned to talks on Wednesday to end a post-election crisis, but remained stuck on how to share power. Kenyans and world powers have called on President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to agree to a deal to halt turmoil that has killed more than 1 000 people,

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/ 19 February 2008

Kenya crisis negotiations stall

Kenya’s rival parties were stuck on Tuesday over how to share power despite pleas for quick resolution to a crisis that has killed 1 000 people and wrecked a nation’s reputation. Foreign powers and the majority of Kenya’s 36-million people are impatient for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to find a political solution.

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/ 19 February 2008

Ears ringing, Kenyans return to table

Kenya’s feuding parties resumed talks on Tuesday after a torrent of calls from home and abroad to solve a post-election crisis that has killed 1 000 people and jeopardised the East African nation’s reputation. ”The time for a political settlement was yesterday,” United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the end of a lightning trip.

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/ 18 February 2008

Rice arrives in Kenya to push crisis talks

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Kenya on Monday to push talks to end the post-election crisis but can expect a lukewarm welcome from the government, bristling at Western pressure for a quick deal. Rice, who was sent by President George Bush, is the highest-ranking US official to visit the country since a December 27 vote triggered ethnic clashes.

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/ 15 February 2008

Annan says Kenya deal ‘very close’

Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan said on Friday that a deal to end Kenya’s post-election turmoil was ”very close” and voiced hope that the ”last difficult and frightening step” would be taken next week. Annan has been leading talks between negotiators for President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition to end weeks of violence since a disputed December 27 election.

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/ 15 February 2008

Kenya crisis talks seen shifting to Constitution

Kofi Annan, the mediator trying to end Kenya’s violent post-election crisis, prepared to reveal a deal on Friday struck between the feuding parties that looked set to shift the dispute towards a battle over the Constitution. Annan is trying to bring an immediate end the crisis, which plunged the country into one of its darkest moments since 1963 independence.

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/ 14 February 2008

Annan defuses row in Kenya crisis talks

Chief mediator Kofi Annan on Wednesday put Kenya’s crisis talks back on course toward a deal after defusing a row over his plan for a ”grand coalition” government to end post-election turmoil. Annan had irked negotiators for President Mwai Kibaki when he told Parliament on Tuesday that a power-sharing government could be a way out of the crisis.

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/ 13 February 2008

Seeds of class war sprout in Kenya’s crisis

Kenya is a land of stark contrast: the rich drive gleaming luxury cars and can afford to enrol their children in top British schools. But most live a hand-to-mouth existence and some Kenyans believe the bloody post-election crisis that has exposed the country’s tribal divisions could also inflame the gulf between classes and further exacerbate instability.

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/ 12 February 2008

Tourists abandon restive Kenya

The number of tourists arriving in Kenya last month was 90% less than anticipated, reports said, following weeks of violence and unrest that have marred the image of the nation known for its fabled game parks and pristine coastline. Only 8 000 tourists arrived to the country instead of the expected 100 000.

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/ 12 February 2008

Annan calls for Kenya deal within days

Kofi Annan urged Kenya’s rival leaders on Monday to hold urgent talks to find an end within 72 hours to the political crisis and unrest that has left more than 1 000 people dead. Annan was appointed as mediator by the African Union to try to broker an agreement to end weeks of violence since a disputed December 27 presidential election.

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/ 11 February 2008

Optimism at Kenya talks, negotiators urge patience

Negotiators for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga re-started talks on Monday in a mood of national optimism that a political solution to Kenya’s worst crisis since independence may be near. Mediator and former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has predicted the two sides will agree on a formula this week to overcome their dispute.

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/ 10 February 2008

Annan urges patience over Kenya deal

The chief mediator in Kenya’s crisis talks, Kofi Annan, urged Kenyans to be patient on Saturday with a deal to end weeks of violence expected to be finalised in the coming days. ”In negotiations, a deal is not a deal until it is done,” the former United Nations chief cautioned in a statement.

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/ 8 February 2008

Kenyan rivals seek to end bloodshed

Kenya’s political rivals tried to inject some momentum on Friday into slow-moving peace talks brokered by former United Nations head Kofi Annan, aimed at ending weeks of bloodshed. Four people were killed overnight in tribal violence in the Kisii region of Nyanza province in western Kenya, two of whom were ”hacked to death”, police said.

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/ 8 February 2008

Do away with the violence, Kenya told

An East African peacemaking body on Friday called for an end to Kenya’s post-election violence and expressed support for mediation talks led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan. ”We urge all Kenyans to support the line of peace and dialogue and reconciliation and do away with the violence,” Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said.

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/ 5 February 2008

Govt, opposition seek to end Kenya conflict

Kenya’s government and the opposition begin detailed negotiations on Tuesday to try to end political and tribal conflict that has killed about 1 000 people and brought one of Africa’s brightest economies to its knees. The two sides agreed on Monday on immediate steps to help the hundreds of thousands displaced by the violence.

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/ 4 February 2008

Kenya lifts ban on live broadcasts

The Kenyan government on Monday lifted a ban on live broadcasts imposed over a month ago as violence erupted over the outcome of a hotly contested presidential election, the Information Ministry said. The government said the ban was in the ”interest of public safety and tranquillity” when it was announced on December 30.

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/ 4 February 2008

Kenya legislator accuses first lady of assault

A Kenyan legislator on Monday accused President Mwai Kibaki’s wife, Lucy, of assaulting him at the official State House residence three weeks ago and said he planned to sue her. The government denied the charge. Government-allied legislator Gitobu Imanyara told reporters he had been the latest target of Lucy Kibaki’s ire.

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/ 4 February 2008

Ramaphosa pulls out of Kenya talks

South African business tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa, chosen by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan to head long-term mediation efforts in Kenya, pulled out on Monday because of reservations expressed by the Kenyan government. ”Kofi Annan reluctantly accepts the withdrawal of Cyril Ramaphosa from the role of chief mediator,” a UN official said.

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/ 2 February 2008

New clashes overshadow Kenya peace plans

The death toll from ethnic fighting and a police crackdown in western Kenya rose to 44 on Saturday, a day after the feuding political sides agreed to a framework to try to end weeks of violence. Thirty-four people have died in fresh clashes, police said on Saturday, including in western Nyanza province.

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/ 2 February 2008

Annan brokers deal in Kenya

Kenya’s government and opposition struck an agreement on Friday to take immediate steps to try to end tribal bloodshed in a five-week-old political stand-off in which about 850 people have been killed. Meanwhile, 27 people have been killed in fresh violence in western Kenya, police said on Saturday.

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/ 2 February 2008

Gang infiltrates Kenya police

A quiet rebellion and near-total collapse of the chain of command has exposed Kenya’s police force as incapable of dealing with the growing national crisis in the country, amid growing fears that it has also been infiltrated by the outlawed pro- government Mungiki sect.