NAIROBI, Kenya --
Young men armed with machetes
hurled stones at police who
fired back tear gas in a slum in
Kenya's capital Thursday, but
most of the country was quiet as
opposition protests over a
disputed presidential election
appeared to lose steam.
Residents hid indoors and
crouched on the floors of shops
as young men ran past in
Nairobi's Mathare slum. Police
fired tear gas down dirt
alleyways and gunshots into the
air.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga
called for three days of
demonstrations that began
Wednesday. Turnout has been low,
however, and there have been few
of the serious clashes or
torching of homes that
immediately followed the
announcement of results from the
Dec. 27 election. President Mwai
Kibaki won a second term
according to official results,
but observers said the count was
rigged.
"Our rallies will continue until
the government sits down with us
and seeks a solution,"
opposition spokesman Salim Lone
told The Associated Press.
"Calling off rallies would be
admitting defeat to those who
first stole the presidential
election and are now killing
innocent protesters on sight."
Government spokesman Alfred
Mutua repeated Kibaki's position
that the opposition should take
its grievances to court and said
the administration "is very open
to dialogue."
Riots and ethnic killings in the
wake of the disputed vote have
marred Kenya's image as a stable
democratic oasis in a
war-ravaged region and damaged
its tourist-dependent economy.
It has also exacerbated
long-simmering ethnic tensions
and conflicts over land.
Police firing tear gas and
bullets halted protests
Wednesday. The violence appeared
to have been worst in Kisumu,
Kenya's third-largest city,
where opposition officials said
police killed protesters. One
such shooting was captured by
local television crews, but it
was unclear if the wounded man
died. On Thursday, at least four
corpses lay in a morgue in
Kisumu, all adult males. Each
had been shot.
The government has banned the
demonstrations, but the
opposition and Kenyan human
rights groups say the government
has no authority to do so.
This week, 13 nations, including
the United States and Britain,
increased pressure on rival
politicians to find a solution,
threatening to cut aid to the
government "if the commitment of
the government of Kenya to good
governance, democracy, the rule
of law and human rights
weakens."
Mutua told reporters: "The
government of Kenya will not be
blackmailed .... We are able to
support ourselves."
About 6 percent of Kenya's
budget comes from foreign aid.
In
Britain, the Federation of Tour
Operators extended a ban on
charter flights to Monday. The
Press Association quoted the
largest British tour operator to
Kenya, Somak, as saying they
were offering alternative
vacations in India.
A
few dozen miles outside the
western town of Eldoret, 12
empty trucks and buses blocked a
main road. The drivers, milling
nearby, said they had been
stopped overnight by around 150
young men armed with machetes
who robbed them, flattened their
tires and stole fuel. One bus
was filled with aid supplies
from the U.N. World Food
Program.
Driver Rashid Hassan, 42, said
the culprits told them they had
blocked the road because 'until
Kibaki leaves, there is no
peace.'"
Late Wednesday, the United
Nations launched an appeal for
nearly $42 million to help half
a million Kenyans affected by
the violence.
U.N. humanitarian chief John
Holmes said the money was needed
to provide food, shelter, health
care and other services for the
next six months.
U.S. Ambassador Michael
Ranneberger said Wednesday that
a power-sharing arrangement was
"the only thing to do," but that
it would not be easy to persuade
Kibaki and Odinga to agree to
such a compromise.
Still, "both have looked us in
the eye and said they are
willing to have a dialogue,"
Ranneberger said, speaking by
telephone hookup Wednesday from
Kenya to a conference at the
Center for Strategic
International Studies, a
Washington think tank. He added
that Kibaki's one condition is
that he will not step down.
The ambassador ruled out holding
a new election. "Neither side
has the money for it," he said.
------
Associated Press writers Tom
Maliti, Malkhadir M. Muhumed,
Tom Odula and Todd Pitman in
Nairobi; Elizabeth A. Kennedy in
Eldoret; Katy Pownall in Kisumu;
and Barry Schweid in Washington
contributed to this report.
