Odinga: Kenya toll nears 1 000
2008-01-07 17:45
Nairobi - African Union mediation to end Kenya's post-election turmoil, in which up to 1 000 people may have died, could start on Wednesday, opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Monday.
Odinga said AU chairperson John Kufuor, the president of Ghana, would arrive on Tuesday night. "He will be ready to begin chairing the talks on Wednesday," he said.
Asked about the death toll in a week of violence since the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, which the government puts at 486, he said it was "closer to a thousand."
Odinga said in an interview with Reuters that he had spoken to Kufuor by telephone after talks earlier on Monday with US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer.
He said Kufuor "confirmed to me that he has now received an invitation from (President Mwai) Kibaki to come and chair mediation talks."
This was a "major, major breakthrough" and a "very significant move," he said.