Second opposition MP shot dead in Kenya as crisis deepens
Thursday, 31 Jan 2008 11:11
Around 350,000 Kenyans have been displaced by the violence
A Kenyan opposition MP has become the second to be killed in the last week after being shot in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret.
According to the Reuters news agency, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) MP David Kimutai Too was killed by a traffic policeman.
"The circumstances are very unclear," ODM spokesman Tony Gachoka said. "This crisis is just getting deeper every day."
Earlier this week, ODM MP Mugabe Were became the first major political victim of the post-presidential vote crisis when he was shot in Nairobi.
Today the international community is piling on the pressure for mediation talks in Kenya to succeed.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has begun negotiating with officials representing the government and the opposition ODM in Nairobi.
President Mwai Kibaki, whose re-election in the disputed December 27th poll has prompted violence across Kenya which has already left 850 people dead, is in Ethiopia today for an
African Union (AU) summit.
The ODM's Raila Odinga has not been invited and has criticised the AU for apparently endorsing Mr Kibaki's government.
The US is being less committal to Mr Kibaki's administration. State department spokesperson Sean McCormack suggested some aid to Kenya was being considered for suspension.
In a press conference yesterday Mr McCormack was forced to defend the US' envoy to Africa, Jendayi Frazer, who is in Addis Ababa to consult with African leaders.
She had described the scenes in Kenya on a visit there from January 4th to January 14th as "ethnic cleansing".
"Some of those people have been displaced because they were fleeing violence, they perceived some threat to themselves, to their families, so they fled violence," Mr McCormack explained.
"There is evidence that there are individuals that were forced to move out of various areas for a variety of different reasons, some based on ethnicity."
Further pressure was added on Tuesday evening by a joint statement from
European leaders.
UK prime minister Gordon Brown, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy's Romano Prodi, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso called on both sides to "engage fully and constructively".
"We call on Kenya's leaders to pursue this dialogue urgently, including in addressing the underlying issues - as they have committed to do - in order to resolve Kenya's problems and put in place the basis of governance that is representative of the democratic will of the Kenyan people," their statement added.
Sporadic outbursts of violence were reported on roads linking towns in the west of the African country, but reports suggest an uneasy calm settled over Kenyan cities and towns after Tuesday's widespread demonstrations.
Kenya's cabinet voted to continue its uncompromising approach to violence and lawlessness on the streets, the Daily Nation newspaper reported.