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Kenya Prez: 'I'm Ready to Talk'

Clashes force opposition to move rally to tomorrow

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 3, 2008 2:48 PM CST
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(Newser) – Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said today he's ready for talks with political opponents "once the nation is calm," Reuters reports. After three days of rioting and burning slums, in the wake of a hotly contested election, opposition leader Raila Odinga postponed until tomorrow a rally scheduled for a Nairobi park today. Odinga remained combative, accusing Kibaki allies of "genocide."

Attorney General Amos Wako called for an “independent person or body” to re-check the controversial vote tally, saying "such an exercise will … assuage the inflamed passions of people." Critics charge that Kenya typically blunts the results of such independent commissions—a sentiment echoed by Odinga’s spokesman, who responded to Wako’s proposal by saying he had "no faith in any government institution."

Supporters of the opposition leader Raila Odinga are seen at a rally venue in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2007. Opposition leader Raila Odinga had called a million man march to protest President Mwai Kibaki's re-election in the Dec. 27 vote, insisting the poll was rigged. But the hundreds of...
Supporters of the opposition leader Raila Odinga are seen at a rally venue in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2007. Opposition leader Raila Odinga had called a "million man" march to protest President...   (Associated Press)
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, right, gives a press conference at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008.Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of opposition protesters in Kenya's capital, as the president appealed for calm and the country's attorney general...
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, right, gives a press conference at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008.Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of...   (Associated Press)
A Lutheran church burns, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of opposition protesters in Kenya's capital, as the country's attorney general appealed for an independent inquiry to verify disputed results from last...
A Lutheran church burns, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of opposition protesters in Kenya's capital,...   (Associated Press)
A young girl cries as she is carried by a man fleeing an area of wooden kiosks which was set on fire by supporters of Raila Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), in the Kibera slum area of Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas...
A young girl cries as she is carried by a man fleeing an area of wooden kiosks which was set on fire by supporters of Raila Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), in the Kibera slum area...   (Associated Press)
Protesters carry sticks while walking past burning shops in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of stone-throwing opposition protesters in the slums of Kenya's capital, where deepening post-election violence in what had been one of Africa's most...
Protesters carry sticks while walking past burning shops in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of stone-throwing opposition...   (Associated Press)
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, center right, visits people who were hospitalized at the Massaba Hospital after being shot during clashes in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back surging crowds of rock-throwing opposition protesters who took to the streets...
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, center right, visits people who were hospitalized at the Massaba Hospital after being shot during clashes in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear...   (Associated Press)
Workers clean the Anglican Church of Africa after Orange Democratic Supporters set the church on fire in the Kibera slums, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back crowds of rock-throwing opposition protesters in the slums of Kenya's capital,...
Workers clean the Anglican Church of Africa after Orange Democratic Supporters set the church on fire in the Kibera slums, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water...   (Associated Press)
Nicolas Onyango, shot by civilians carrying firearms in Kibera slum, is hospitalized at the Massaba Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back surging crowds of rock-throwing opposition protesters who took to the streets in a mass rally...
Nicolas Onyango, shot by civilians carrying firearms in Kibera slum, is hospitalized at the Massaba Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday...   (Associated Press)
Raila Odinga, the opposition leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), left, with ODM members, William Ruto, center, and Musalia Mudavadi, view bodies at the Nairobi City mortuary, Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back surging crowds of rock-throwing...
Raila Odinga, the opposition leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), left, with ODM members, William Ruto, center, and Musalia Mudavadi, view bodies at the Nairobi City mortuary, Nairobi, Kenya,...   (Associated Press)
A woman cries next to a man that was attacked with machetes as he receive medical attention in the back of a Red Cross ambulance, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Thursday to beat back surging crowds...
A woman cries next to a man that was attacked with machetes as he receive medical attention in the back of a Red Cross ambulance, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Riot police...   (Associated Press)
Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga, center, arrives at the city mortuary in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2007. Kenya's electoral commission said President Mwai Kibaki had won the Dec. 27 vote, but rival candidate Odinga alleges the vote was rigged. The dispute has triggered ethnic violence across the country that...
Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga, center, arrives at the city mortuary in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2007. Kenya's electoral commission said President Mwai Kibaki had won the Dec. 27 vote,...   (Associated Press)
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Kenya • Mwai Kibaki • Raila Odinga • election fraud • election

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