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Kenya threatens tougher action
30/01/2008 15:34 - (SA)
Nairobi - Kenya on Wednesday warned it would act tougher to reign in post-election violence threatening to spiral out of control in the east African nation's darkest moment since independence in 1963.
Protests over President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election in the December 27 election had degenerated into cycles of killing between rival tribes, and there was increasing evidence of gangs being well organised on both sides.
The top United States diplomat for Africa urged the political rivals to forge a compromise at mediation led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan and warned that the cycle of ethnic retaliation had "gone too far".
"There has been an organised effort to push out people from Rift Valley ... It is clearly ethnic cleansing," US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said in Ethiopia.
Nearly 100 protesters killed
Most of the deaths since the election came in attacks that at first targeted Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. They are now taking revenge on pro-opposition tribes.
Police had also killed close to 100 protesters backing opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti on Wednesday warned that police would tolerate no more violence, and would ensure that Kenya's roads and rail lines - critical lifelines for neighbouring nations - would remain open.
"We have decided to act tough this time. We are not going to allow criminals and hooligans to run around. No country or government can allow that," he said.
Angry youths had set up roadblocks all over the Rift Valley in the past month, squeezing transport into neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan and hurting their economies - dependent on Kenya's Mombasa port.
The government on Tuesday demonstrated its willingness to apply heavier force, sending in two army helicopters to strafe a Kikuyu mob with rubber bullets in Naivasha.
Annan plans 2nd day of talks
Saitoti said the military would still be used in a humanitarian capacity. More than 250 000 people were living as refugees.
Some Kenyans laid wreaths at Nairobi's "Freedom Corner" on Wednesday. "Peace", "Love", "Sorry" read some cards with them.
Annan's team on Thursday planned a second day of talks between Odinga and Kibaki's negotiators, each a mix of moderates and hardliners - the latter of whom were blocking progress.
Annan, after bringing Kibaki and Odinga together on Tuesday, said he was confident "immediate political issues" could be resolved in four weeks. Broader issues could take a year.
Kibaki, 76, said he was the legally elected president, but was open to sharing-power. Odinga, 63, said he was robbed by fraud during the vote count and wanted Kibaki to stand down or allow a new election after a period of power-sharing.
Much hanged on the fate of the talks, including the future of Kenya's economy - east Africa's largest and previously one of its brightest.
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