Kenya Diplomatic Push For Peace

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7167363.stm

Kenya Diplomatic Push For Peace

Both sides in Kenya's disputed election have accused the other of violence as diplomatic efforts intensify to defuse the country's political crisis.

The US and UK are calling for opponents to work together and an AU delegation, led by Ghana's President Kufuor, is due in Kenya on Thursday.

About 300 people have now died in the post-poll bloodshed, including 30 burned to death sheltering in a church. Many Kenyans have been forced to take refuge from armed mobs and looters. Police in the capital Nairobi have set up barricades at the major roundabouts into the city and halted traffic.

As commuters cautiously start the working year, there are fears of renewed violence if a rally planned by the political opposition for Thursday goes ahead.

Call for compromise Tens of thousands of people have already fled their homes amid the unrest.

Mwai Kibaki, who was officially re-elected president in Thursday's vote, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory by fraud, traded accusations while calling for an end to the killing.

A government spokesman told the BBC Mr Odinga's supporters were "engaging in ethnic cleansing", while Mr Odinga said Mr Kibaki's camp was "guilty, directly, of genocide". Asked if he would urge his supporters to calm down, Mr Odinga told the BBC: "I refuse to be asked to give the Kenyan people an anaesthetic so that they can be raped."

He also ruled out a legal challenge to the poll result, saying: "We are not going to go to Kibaki's courts."

The African Union chairman, Ghanaian President Kufuor, is due in the former British colony on Wednesday.

UK Foreign Minister Miliband and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have issued a joint statement urging both sides to "engage in a spirit of compromise". BBC world affairs correspondent Reynolds says that what the US and UK mean by that phrase is there should be a government of national unity.

The message of the African Union chairman, whose visit is fully backed by Britain and the US, is expected to be the same, according to our correspondent. The joint US-UK statement noted reports of "serious irregularities" in the vote count but urged Kenya's political leaders to unite in calling on their supporters to end the bloodshed.

Poll watchdog 'pressured' There were reports of several more deaths overnight, with two police officers killed in the western town of Kericho by youths armed with bows and arrows, a police official told AFP news agency.

But the country has been shocked by the deaths of dozens of people - mainly Kikuyu, the same tribe as Mr Kibaki - in a church that was torched in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret. The BBC's has just returned from the church, which had been sheltering mostly women and children, and described a scene of utter devastation.

She saw two bodies outside the charred building, one a

man who appeared to have been hacked to death with a machete and the burned remains of a woman. Our correspondent says at least 500 terrified local people have taken refuge in a police station in the town. The Kenyan Red Cross has said that in the Rift Valley, at least 70,000 people have been displaced by the unrest.

Ugandan officials also reported hundreds of Kikuyu tribes people crossing the border from Kenya.

Mr Kibaki was declared the winner on Sunday after a controversial three-day counting process.

On Tuesday, election commission chairman Kivuitu said he had been under pressure to make the election results public from Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity and a minor opposition party that recently split from Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.

EU observers said the poll "fell short of international standards" but the government has denied fraud.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7167363.stm

Kenya Diplomatic Push For Peace

Both sides in Kenya's disputed election have accused the other of violence as diplomatic efforts intensify to defuse the country's political crisis.

The US and UK are calling for opponents to work together and an AU delegation, led by Ghana's President Kufuor, is due in Kenya on Thursday.

About 300 people have now died in the post-poll bloodshed, including 30 burned to death sheltering in a church. Many Kenyans have been forced to take refuge from armed mobs and looters. Police in the capital Nairobi have set up barricades at the major roundabouts into the city and halted traffic.

As commuters cautiously start the working year, there are fears of renewed violence if a rally planned by the political opposition for Thursday goes ahead.

Call for compromise Tens of thousands of people have already fled their homes amid the unrest.

Mwai Kibaki, who was officially re-elected president in Thursday's vote, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory by fraud, traded accusations while calling for an end to the killing.

A government spokesman told the BBC Mr Odinga's supporters were "engaging in ethnic cleansing", while Mr Odinga said Mr Kibaki's camp was "guilty, directly, of genocide". Asked if he would urge his supporters to calm down, Mr Odinga told the BBC: "I refuse to be asked to give the Kenyan people an anaesthetic so that they can be raped."

He also ruled out a legal challenge to the poll result, saying: "We are not going to go to Kibaki's courts."

The African Union chairman, Ghanaian President Kufuor, is due in the former British colony on Wednesday.

UK Foreign Minister Miliband and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have issued a joint statement urging both sides to "engage in a spirit of compromise". BBC world affairs correspondent Reynolds says that what the US and UK mean by that phrase is there should be a government of national unity.

The message of the African Union chairman, whose visit is fully backed by Britain and the US, is expected to be the same, according to our correspondent. The joint US-UK statement noted reports of "serious irregularities" in the vote count but urged Kenya's political leaders to unite in calling on their supporters to end the bloodshed.

Poll watchdog 'pressured' There were reports of several more deaths overnight, with two police officers killed in the western town of Kericho by youths armed with bows and arrows, a police official told AFP news agency.

But the country has been shocked by the deaths of dozens of people - mainly Kikuyu, the same tribe as Mr Kibaki - in a church that was torched in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret. The BBC's has just returned from the church, which had been sheltering mostly women and children, and described a scene of utter devastation.

She saw two bodies outside the charred building, one a

man who appeared to have been hacked to death with a machete and the burned remains of a woman. Our correspondent says at least 500 terrified local people have taken refuge in a police station in the town. The Kenyan Red Cross has said that in the Rift Valley, at least 70,000 people have been displaced by the unrest.

Ugandan officials also reported hundreds of Kikuyu tribes people crossing the border from Kenya.

Mr Kibaki was declared the winner on Sunday after a controversial three-day counting process.

On Tuesday, election commission chairman Kivuitu said he had been under pressure to make the election results public from Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity and a minor opposition party that recently split from Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.

EU observers said the poll "fell short of international standards" but the government has denied fraud.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA