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Kenya Upheaval Could Reach 'Catastrophic Levels'

As violence continues, UN boss will join predecessor in talks

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 31, 2008 11:29 AM CST
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(Newser) – Kenya's political turmoil continues to wreak havoc, and it is "threatening to escalate to catastrophic levels," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today. After the killing of another member of Raila Odinga's opposition party yesterday, the country faced renewed violence, Reuters reports. The death toll has reached 850 since late December as political disputes have opened old territorial conflicts.

Ban says he will head to Kenya tomorrow to aid his predecessor, Kofi Annan, in peace talks. But even if order is restored, Kenya’s prospects look bleak, Newsweek reports. Violent protests have deeply wounded the economy. Food costs in the west have ballooned; farmers have fled, leaving a $700 million industry behind; and a manufacturers’ association expects 400,000 jobs to disappear.

The coffin of Zachariah Kimani Kariithi, of the Kikuyu tribe, is carried to a grave outside Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday Jan. 31 2008. Kariithi was killed by gunfire during post election violence. Hundreds of Kikuyus have been killed, and members of the group account for more than half of...
The coffin of Zachariah Kimani Kariithi, of the Kikuyu tribe, is carried to a grave outside Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday Jan. 31 2008. Kariithi was killed by gunfire during post election violence....   (Associated Press)
A relative of Zachariah Kimani Kariithi, of the Kikuyu tribe, who was killed by gunfire during post election violence, prays in a field during Kariithi's funeral service outside Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday Jan. 31 2008. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A relative of Zachariah Kimani Kariithi, of the Kikuyu tribe, who was killed by gunfire during post election violence, prays in a field during Kariithi's funeral service outside Limuru, near Nairobi,...   (Associated Press)
Internally displaced Kenyans from the Luo tribe, displaced by post election violence, receive food from aid organizations as they gather around the Limuru police station in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday Jan. 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Internally displaced Kenyans from the Luo tribe, displaced by post election violence, receive food from aid organizations as they gather around the Limuru police station in Limuru, near 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)
Internally displaced children from the Luo tribe, displaced by post election violence, line up to receive food from aid organizations at the Limuru police station in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday Jan. 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Internally displaced children from the Luo tribe, displaced by post election violence, line up to receive food from aid organizations at the Limuru police station in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday...   (Associated Press)
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, center, arrives for 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...
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, center, arrives for a session of the African Union summit, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. Africa is facing a genocide in Kenya and must...   (Associated Press)
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At African Union summit, leaders discuss potential catastrophe
Reuters

Op-ed: 'Kenya reminds me of 1994 Rwanda'
Weekly Observer (Uganda)

 
Kenya • United Nations • protests • Kofi Annan • Mwai Kibaki • Raila Odinga • Kenyan elections • ethnic violence • Kenya's economy • Ban Ki-moon

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