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Odinga calls for Kibaki to step down
Kenya's opposition leader demanded on Saturday the president resign, saying a new vote must be held in a speech to thousands of supporters at the funeral of an opposition lawmaker whose slaying set off a wave of ethnic clashes.
- AP
- Published: 00:45 February 10, 2008
Chepkioyo: Kenya's opposition leader demanded on Saturday the president resign, saying a new vote must be held in a speech to thousands of supporters at the funeral of an opposition lawmaker whose slaying set off a wave of ethnic clashes.
Raila Odinga's statements were in sharp contrast to the conciliatory tone he struck this week in Nairobi, where he backtracked on earlier demands that President Mwai Kibaki step down as peace talks to end the crisis picked up momentum.
Those comments were made in English. But speaking in Swahili, East Africa's common tongue, in his power base in western Kenya yesterday, Odinga returned to the themes that have rallied supporters - and, say many, incited them to violence - since the December 27 election.
The chief mediator in Kenya's crisis talks, Kofi Annan, urged Kenyans to be patient with a deal to end weeks of violence expected to be finalised in the coming days.
Caution
"In negotiations, a deal is not a deal until it is done," the former UN chief cautioned in a statement. "While the talks are making progress, they have not come to a definite conclusion."
After reports of a breakthrough that could include the formation of a new power-sharing government, Annan urged Kenyans "to be patient until agreement is reached next week."
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