KENYA: Kenya crisis talks see progress but no final deal

Record ID: 362046

  • Title: KENYA: Kenya crisis talks see progress but no final deal
  • Date: 8th February 2008
  • Summary: (W2) NAIROBI, KENYA (FEBRUARY 8, 2008) (AGENCY POOL) CHIEF MEDIATOR, AND FORMER UN SECRETARY-GENERAL, KOFI ANNAN WITH KENYAN MEDIATION TEAMS REPRESENTING THE OPPOSITION (TO THE LEFT OF ANNAN) AND THE GOVERNMENT (TO THE RIGHT OF ANNAN)
  • Embargoed: 23rd February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5RE6BDR1ZT8394Q0DOCUI5SFE
  • Story Text: Officials from Kenya's government and opposition said on Friday (February 8) that talks to resolve their dispute over President Mwai Kibaki's re-election had moved forward but not reached a final deal.
    Sources on both sides said they would not divulge details of the talks' progress, but that mediator and former U.N. boss Kofi Annan would announce more at a news conference.
    Having agreed principles to stem violence and help refugees, negotiators for the two sides have been stuck this week on how to overcome their differences on the tallying of votes from the Dec. 27 ballot.
    Local media and a source close to the talks earlier said on Friday the negotiators for Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga had achieved a "breakthrough" in their dispute.
    Also earlier on Friday, Kibaki said at a prayer service in Nairobi that he was encouraged by the "commendable progress" Annan and the other mediators had made.
    Riots and ethnic attacks have killed more than 1,000 people and uprooted 300,000 since the Dec. 27 polls, shattering Kenya's image as a stable business, tourism and transport hub.
    In addition to hundreds of deaths, the turmoil in Kenya has uprooted 300,000 people, many living in squalid conditions and fearful of returning home.
    To assess the situation, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, flew in on Friday for a three-day trip and was due on Saturday to visit Rift Valley towns hit by tribal clashes.
    Both sides have accused each other of rigging the December vote -- allegations that triggered unrest laying bare deep divisions over land, wealth and power that date from colonial rule and have since been stoked by politicians.
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