KENYA : Opposiition leader Odinga says peace talks should be in the interests of Kenya, not serve Kibaki's purpose

Record ID: 360638

  • Title: KENYA : Opposiition leader Odinga says peace talks should be in the interests of Kenya, not serve Kibaki's purpose
  • Date: 3rd February 2008
  • Summary: (W3) KISUMU, KENYA (FEBRUARY 1, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEN REMOVING ROCKS FROM ROAD MAN CYCLING PAST ON BICYCLE, TRANSPORTING COFFIN
  • Embargoed: 18th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAAV9CBR98Q3KC3MTVYTRN6SHI
  • Story Text: Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga says world should not be misled by President Mwai Kibaki.
    Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Saturday (February 2) accused President Mwai Kibaki of
    "antics and theatrics" on the international stage.
    Riots, clashes with security forces and ethnic reprisals have broken out in Kenya after President Mwai Kibaki was returned to power in a Dec. 27 poll which his rival Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), says was rigged.

    "In his address to the AU, Mister Mwai Kibaki blamed ODM for the violence and mayhem that is going on and he went on to make a very serious charge that this was premeditated and that he has got evidence of premeditation. The question is that if he has evidence and he is legally in charge of the government, why has he not taken any action against those responsible for this premeditated violence," Odinga told a news conference in Nairobi.
    Speakers on the first day of the African Union (AU) summit on Thursday (January 31) called for urgent action to stop the violence in Kenya, stepping up pressure on Kibaki and Odinga to find a negotiated solution.
    But in two speeches on Friday, to the summit and a separate meeting of the East African regional grouping IGAD, Kibaki repeatedly attacked the opposition and stuck to positions already rejected by Odinga.

    "The world should not be misled by Kibaki's antics and theatrics to say that he won elections, he knows he did not win these elections. We are prepared to walk the extra mile, as I said when we launched peace talks. We are doing this for the sake of Kenya, not for the sake of Kibaki. We would like the suffering of people to stop," he added.
    Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan brokered a deal between Kenya's feuding politicians on Friday to take immediate steps to end the post-election violence which has killed at least 850 people and displaced more than a quarter of a million.
    The unrest, which has often pitted Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe against Odinga's Luo tribe, has tarnished the image of a country long seen as one of east Africa's most stable and prosperous.
    Violence in Kisumu on Friday (February 1) showed no sign of ebbing despite the continued mediation efforts.
    Twelve year-old Godfrey Opiyo was shot in the head while he was trying to avoid chaos in a nearby slum on Friday, witnesses said.
    Opiyo, an orphan was accompanied by his visibly distraught brother to Kisumu General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
    Police fired tear gas to disperse youths who were blocking roads and burning tyres.
    The pro-opposition western city has been the scene of some of the most violent post-election riots in the past month.
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