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Scramble for Peace After Kenya Carnage
African Union boss in talks today in bid to control spiraling violence
By Rob Quinn
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Posted Jan 2, 08 5:26 AM CST
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(Newser)
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Political leaders scrambled yesterday to contain violence in Kenya as rioting and retaliation over an election dispute appeared to leave the nation teetering on the edge of bloody chaos, the BBC reports. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes. At least 300 people have been killed, including 30 burned alive as they sought refuge in a church. The president of the African Union is due in Kenya today for talks.
A spokesman for President Mwai Kibaki accused supporters of Raila Odinga, the loser in a hotly disputed election, of ethnic cleansing. Leaders from both sides have called for an end to the killing. The Kenyan Red Cross estimates that 70,000 people have been displaced in the country's Rift Valley, and Uganda says hundreds of Kenyans have fled across the border.