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Shaky talks keep AU chief in Kenya

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2008-01-10 Time: 00:00:00  Posted By: Jan

[But do the talks have any hope? This is where the prediction experiment comes in. Jan]

Nairobi – African Union chief John Kufuor will extend his stay in Kenya after a first day of talks yielded no progress in resolving a political crisis that has sparked widespread violence, officials said on Wednesday.

Kufuor, who arrived in the country late Tuesday, held talks with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition chief Raila Odinga, but ministry officials said no progress had been made.

“He was supposed to go home today, but he extended his visit to Thursday,” a foreign ministry official told reporters.

Officials said Kufuor failed to soften the feuding leaders’ stances in his first day of talks to end the crisis that deepened when Kibaki announced a partial cabinet on Tuesday.

“The only concrete proposal that Kufuor brought to the table was the establishment of an panel of eminent persons to mediate between both sides,” opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) secretary general Anyang Nyongo told reporters.

“We still maintain our position of not recognising the president and his government,” he told reporters.

Kibaki told the envoy that he had left some seats for the ODM in the cabinet and reiterated his willingness to form a government of national unity with his rivals, officials said.

“The opposition wants the president to recognise that there is a crisis in the country, but Kibaki refuses,” the official said.

“For today, there was no deal and progress because both sides did not let go their positions,” said an official who requested anonymity.

A brief statement after a second meeting between Kibaki and Kufuor said the two leaders “reiterated that dialogue is the only way forward towards a sustainable solution to the current political situation facing the country”.

“President Kibaki thanked the Ghanaian leader for finding time to visit Kenya and to show support to the Kenyan people during this challenging period,” the presidential press service said in a statement.

Anger over the December 27 presidential election, which Odinga says was rigged, exploded into nationwide rioting and violence, killing at least 600 people.

More than 250 000 have fled their homes to escape the violence, UN officials estimate.

Kenya police said Wednesday stability had returned in most parts of the country, but attacks were still being reported.

“It is peaceful now, but there are some pockets where there are still attacks,” national police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe told reporters.

“Six houses were burnt in Elburgon, in the Rift Valley province,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Kibaki vowed to crackdown on the violence and punish perpetrators of the chaos. He said the government would resettle the displaced.

Foreign governments have intensified diplomatic efforts in order to keep Kenya from sliding into chaos. The crisis has damaged Kenya’s safe reputation in an unstable region of Africa.

Diplomats fear that an unstable Kenya may inflame the whole region and undo efforts to restore stability to conflict-ridden neighbours such as Somalia, located to the east.

The crisis, the country’s worst since a 1982 failed coup, has hurt Kenya’s tourism sector, which is key to the economy in the country of 37 million people from more than 40 tribes.

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20080109231633282C745257