Kenya opposition rally falters as U.S. sends envoy

A planned opposition rally faltered on Friday, giving Kenya some respite from post-election turmoil. More than 300 people have been killed in the violence which has threatened one of Africa's strongest economies. Kenya opposition rally falters as U.S. sends envoy "We're tired, we're not going to march," said Samuel Muhati, a resident of the Mathare slum, where thousands of demonstrators battled police on Thursday. "Let the fighting stop." As Nairobi returned to some appearance of normal with more traffic on the streets, France issued the strongest foreign criticism yet of the vote, backing opposition charges of fraud. "Were the elections rigged or not? I think so, many think so, the Americans think so, the British think so, and they know the country well," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told RTL radio. "It is said it is an ethnic battle. Yes, without doubt, in Africa it is often that. But it is also a battle for democracy." U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer was due in Nairobi on Friday night to meet President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory in a December 27 vote to lead east Africa's biggest economy. "They have an opportunity to come together in some kind of arrangement that will help heal the wounds," U.S. President George W. Bush told Reuters, joining a chorus of international appeals to end Kenya's deadly chaos. The World Bank said the violence could hurt Kenya's impressive economic gains -- and harm countries in the region that rely on it as the region's business and transport hub. Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are already suffering fuel shortages as the conflict chokes off supplies from Mombasa port. With the economic ramifications starting to sink in, stocks and currency trade restarted on Friday after being halted during Thursday's street battles. But few brokers traded and they kept a wary eye on developments. In Nairobi, police guarded Uhuru (Freedom) Park from dawn, where the protest was supposed to start at 10 a.m. But opposition leaders huddled in their Pentagon House headquarters, receiving visits from foreign diplomats, and exhausted supporters in the slums were largely staying at home. Protesters battled for hours on Thursday to march on the park but were held back by police. Half a dozen people died, mostly in tribal killings in the slums. More than 300 people have died in a week of clashes -- some between police and protesters, others pitting members of Odinga's Luo group and other tribes against Kibaki's Kikuyus. Some 100,000 people have fled their homes. As international pressure failed to bring Kibaki and Odinga together, there was increasing impatience among Kenyans. "Despite the words of concern by both sides about the dangerous situation in Kenya and public statements that they are ready for dialogue, belligerence is still drowning out voices of reason," said the Daily Nation newspaper. New vote? The secretary-general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement said the party was demanding that Kibaki step down, an internationally recognized body mediate and a "transitional arrangement" -- not government -- be set up prior to a new vote. Such a vote should take place "in no less then three months," Anyang' Nyong'o added, saying protests would continue. Kenyans are aghast at the turmoil in a nation popular among tourists for its safaris and Indian Ocean beaches, and which is a major hub for the United Nations, diplomats, journalists, aid workers and others working around turbulent east Africa. "Banana republic images on all major Western TV channels, newspapers and Web sites of bodies in morgues and of police violence and of tribal warriors wielding machetes and axes, are sickening and horrifying," wrote commentator Fred Mudhai. In the capital's tribally polarized shanty towns, witnesses said the bloodshed went on into the early hours of Friday. "They are mixing petrol bombs as we speak," said a resident of Kibera, one of Africa's biggest slums. But many Kenyans were sick of the violence. "If they don't dialogue we down here continue to suffer," said mechanic John Kopio, who has fled to the outskirts of Mathare slum after his house was ransacked. Senior officials from both sides of Kenya's bitter political divide have traded accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing. But on Thursday, Kibaki struck a more conciliatory note in his first words to the press since the troubles began. "I am ready to have dialogue with the concerned parties once the nation is calm," he told reporters. Kibkoech Tanui, a Standard newspaper editor, said even letting Kibaki serve another five years despite the suspect manner of his win would be acceptable if it stopped bloodshed like the massacre of 30 people in a rural church. "I would wipe away my tears and stifle my sense of being cheated if the alternative is churches being turned into pyres to burn up children who might not even know who is ruling Kenya," he wrote.

Kenya opposition rally falters as U.S. sends envoy

"We're tired, we're not going to march," said Samuel Muhati, a resident of the Mathare slum, where thousands of demonstrators battled police on Thursday. "Let the fighting stop."

As Nairobi returned to some appearance of normal with more traffic on the streets, France issued the strongest foreign criticism yet of the vote, backing opposition charges of fraud.

"Were the elections rigged or not? I think so, many think so, the Americans think so, the British think so, and they know the country well," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told RTL radio.

"It is said it is an ethnic battle. Yes, without doubt, in Africa it is often that. But it is also a battle for democracy."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer was due in Nairobi on Friday night to meet President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says he was robbed of victory in a December 27 vote to lead east Africa's biggest economy.

"They have an opportunity to come together in some kind of arrangement that will help heal the wounds," U.S. President George W. Bush told Reuters, joining a chorus of international appeals to end Kenya's deadly chaos.

The World Bank said the violence could hurt Kenya's impressive economic gains -- and harm countries in the region that rely on it as the region's business and transport hub.

Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are already suffering fuel shortages as the conflict chokes off supplies from Mombasa port.

With the economic ramifications starting to sink in, stocks and currency trade restarted on Friday after being halted during Thursday's street battles. But few brokers traded and they kept a wary eye on developments.

In Nairobi, police guarded Uhuru (Freedom) Park from dawn, where the protest was supposed to start at 10 a.m.

But opposition leaders huddled in their Pentagon House headquarters, receiving visits from foreign diplomats, and exhausted supporters in the slums were largely staying at home.

Protesters battled for hours on Thursday to march on the park but were held back by police. Half a dozen people died, mostly in tribal killings in the slums.

More than 300 people have died in a week of clashes -- some between police and protesters, others pitting members of Odinga's Luo group and other tribes against Kibaki's Kikuyus.

Some 100,000 people have fled their homes.

As international pressure failed to bring Kibaki and Odinga together, there was increasing impatience among Kenyans.

"Despite the words of concern by both sides about the dangerous situation in Kenya and public statements that they are ready for dialogue, belligerence is still drowning out voices of reason," said the Daily Nation newspaper.

New vote?

The secretary-general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement said the party was demanding that Kibaki step down, an internationally recognized body mediate and a "transitional arrangement" -- not government -- be set up prior to a new vote.

Such a vote should take place "in no less then three months," Anyang' Nyong'o added, saying protests would continue.

Kenyans are aghast at the turmoil in a nation popular among tourists for its safaris and Indian Ocean beaches, and which is a major hub for the United Nations, diplomats, journalists, aid workers and others working around turbulent east Africa.

"Banana republic images on all major Western TV channels, newspapers and Web sites of bodies in morgues and of police violence and of tribal warriors wielding machetes and axes, are sickening and horrifying," wrote commentator Fred Mudhai.

In the capital's tribally polarized shanty towns, witnesses said the bloodshed went on into the early hours of Friday.

"They are mixing petrol bombs as we speak," said a resident of Kibera, one of Africa's biggest slums.

But many Kenyans were sick of the violence.

"If they don't dialogue we down here continue to suffer," said mechanic John Kopio, who has fled to the outskirts of Mathare slum after his house was ransacked.

Senior officials from both sides of Kenya's bitter political divide have traded accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing. But on Thursday, Kibaki struck a more conciliatory note in his first words to the press since the troubles began.

"I am ready to have dialogue with the concerned parties once the nation is calm," he told reporters.

Kibkoech Tanui, a Standard newspaper editor, said even letting Kibaki serve another five years despite the suspect manner of his win would be acceptable if it stopped bloodshed like the massacre of 30 people in a rural church.

"I would wipe away my tears and stifle my sense of being cheated if the alternative is churches being turned into pyres to burn up children who might not even know who is ruling Kenya," he wrote.