Kenya rivals agree peace plan
Kofi Annan says feuding parties will act urgently to end post-election turmoil.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reporting from Kenya said that the rival parties have agreed to take “immediate action” to stop the violence.
Annan, who has been in Kenya for more than a week, said the first priority of the four-point agenda was “to take immediate action to stop the violence and restore fundamental rights and liberties”.
“The second is immediate measures to address the humanitarian crisis, the third is how to overcome the current political crisis.”
He said the first three points were to be resolved between seven and 15 days of the start of dialogue on January 28.
The fourth point concerned long-term issues such as unemployment, poverty and land reforms.
UN chief’s visit
Earlier on Friday, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, called on rival political camps to end the violence gripping the country and urgently start a political dialogue.
The appeal came as the UN chief visited Nairobi amid more violence, resulting in at least eight more deaths.
Ban, hoping to assist mediation efforts, said: “My message to the government and people of Kenya is to stop this violence and to solve all these issues… through dialogue in a peaceful manner.
“You are taking a very important historical responsibility at this critically important junction.”
Ban called on opposing political parties to find common ground in the interests of the country’s stability.
“What I’d like to ask you is to look beyond these individual interests, look beyond the party lines, look towards the future, the brighter future of your country.”
As international pressure mounted on Kenyan leaders for a negotiated settlement to the crisis, violence continued unabated.
On Friday, police said they killed four people as a mob looted houses and shops in the western town of Kericho.
John Otieno, heading the criminal investigations in Kericho, said: “Those who were shot and killed were participating in looting properties and torching residential houses and business buildings.”
Several people were also killed in fighting in Nyamira district, a police commander said. They were either hacked or shot with poisoned arrows.
‘Crime of passion’
On Thursday, David Kimutai Too, an opposition member of parliament, was killed by a policeman in Eldoret. A woman was also killed in the shooting.
 |
Hospitals are packed with the wounded
as violence continues unabated [AFP] |
Police said Too’s death was a crime of passion. They said a traffic police officer had found out that Too was having an affair with his girlfriend and killed the pair.
It was the second death of an opposition MP in three days. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has said that both deaths were political assassinations.
Julius Langat, a spokesman for Too’s family, said that the MP was not having an affair with the woman and that he had feared for his safety.
Langat said that the woman was a police officer and Too had met her to seek protection for his family, including his two children.
Violence has been raging in the country after December’s disputed election results.
About 1,000 people have been killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
