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2nd Opposition Lawmaker Shot Dead in Kenya

Politician's killing threatens peace talks

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 31, 2008 5:37 AM CST
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(Newser) – A second Kenyan opposition politician has been killed in the country's troubled Rift Valley, only two days after the murder of one of his colleagues. The lawmaker, who won a seat in parliament on the ticket of Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement in December's contested elections, was fatally shot by a traffic cop at a roadblock. The police claimed the killing was part of a lovers' quarrel, but the party says it was a political assassination.

The party's secretary-general called the murders of two opposition lawmakers "part of an evil scheme" to cow the opposition. As the news spread, party supporters in Eldoret began marching to the police station, but dispersed when paramilitary officers fired shots in the air. The killing threatens to disrupt the second day of negotiations between the government and the opposition.

Kikuyu men shout and gesture at Luo tribe members as they are evacuated by the police, after they sought shelter at the Kenya Research Forestry Institute in Kikuyu Town, just outside of Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. On Wednesday, hundreds of young Kikuyu men blocked the main highway west...
Kikuyu men shout and gesture at Luo tribe members as they are evacuated by the police, after they sought shelter at the Kenya Research Forestry Institute in Kikuyu Town, just outside of Nairobi, Kenya,...   (Associated Press)
Opposition leader Raila Odinga attends a press conference at his Orange Democratic Party headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. An opposition lawmaker was shot and killed by a traffic police officer in the Rift Valley Thursday, a police official said, the second opposition lawmaker to be killed this...
Opposition leader Raila Odinga attends a press conference at his Orange Democratic Party headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. An opposition lawmaker was shot and killed by a traffic...   (Associated Press)
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki attends a session of the African Union summit, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. Africa is facing a genocide in Kenya and must make resolving the crisis a priority, the head of the African Union told the continent's leaders Thursday at the opening of a...
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki attends a session of the African Union summit, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. Africa is facing a genocide in Kenya and must make resolving the crisis a priority,...   (Associated Press)
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Kenya • Mwai Kibaki • Raila Odinga • Orange Democratic Movement • Rift Valley • Eldoret

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