Ban urges Kenya to solve crisis
2008-01-31 11:35
Addis Ababa - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Kenya's feuding leaders on Thursday to find a peaceful way out of the violent turmoil that had ravaged the country in the wake of contested elections.
"Kenyan leader President Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga ... have a special responsibility to solve the crisis peacefully," Ban told African heads of state gathered for a summit in Addis Ababa.
Kibaki attended the African Union summit after Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement had pressured the continental body to exclude him.
The ODM warned that Kibaki's presence would amount to a recognition of his election, despite local and international concerns over flaws in the vote count of the December 27 polls.
With the toll from violence sparked by Kenya's disputed elections nearing 1 000 and close to 300 000 people displaced, representatives of Kibaki and Odinga met for the first time together in Nairobi on Thursday with former UN chief Kofi Annan.
The situation in Kenya would be a key focus of the three-day summit of the 53-member African Union, along with challenges facing the body's peacekeeping missions.