UN chief calls on Kenya rivals to stop violence (almost 1,000 killed and some 300,000 displaced)

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

NAIROBI (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon called Friday for Kenya's feuding leaders to stop weeks of deadly violence sparked by disputed presidential polls, and to resolve the crisis through peaceful dialogue.

"My message to the government and people of Kenya is to stop this violence and to solve all these issues ... through dialogue in a peaceful manner," Ban told journalists in Nairobi, where he added his weight to mediation efforts led by his predecessor Kofi Annan.

"You are taking a very important historical responsibility at this critically important junction," the UN secretary general said, sitting alongside Annan and representatives of negotiating teams for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Ban arrived in Kenya Friday in the wake of turmoil sparked by presidential elections on December 27 that gave victory to Kibaki but were claimed by Odinga to have been rigged.

In the ethnic and political unrest that ensued almost 1,000 people have been killed and some 300,000 have been displaced.



Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080201/tpl-kenya-politics-unrest-383fe17.html

[maddezmom]

1. Mob kills Kenyan police officer

Mob kills Kenyan police officer By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago



ELDORET, Kenya - A mob of 3,000 armed with bows and arrows, spears, clubs and machetes killed a police officer Friday in the home village of an opposition lawmaker who had been fatally shot by a police officer the day before, police said.


It was the first police casualty that authorities have linked to the monthlong postelection turmoil. The mob accused the officer of wounding a civilian Thursday during protests after the killing of lawmaker David Kimutai Too, police commander Peter Aliwa said.

Too's killing added to distrust of police, who are already accused of using excessive force and of being too allied with the government. Police said they had fatally shot four people and wounded five others Thursday evening and Friday morning in western Kenya.

Britain Foreign Office Minister Mark Malloch-Brown suggested deploying Kenya's army, saying Kenyan police "at this stage seem to be seen as no longer neutral and behind some of the killings."




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_re_af/kenya_election_violence;_ylt=AqvwIsKd1lPqyynWXWf8FQFvaA8F

[HamdenRice]

2. Kenya was the economic and security anchor of the region. Not good.

On the other hand, Kenya is a robust enough state to survive this if it can be brought under control soon. There were other periods of relative instability that nevertheless did not cause the state to fail, such as the last years of Daniel Arap Moi, when there was state sponsored ethnic cleansing against the Kikuyus.