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Odinga rejects bilateral talks with Kibaki to end crisis

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga yesterday rejected bilateral talks with President Mwai Kibaki, dimming hopes for a breakthrough to end turmoil that has led to almost 500 deaths.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 00:09 January 9, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Hundreds of Kenyans gather in Kianda in Kibera, a slum township in Nairobi, for maize meal being distributed by the Red Cross.
  • Image Credit: Tracy Brand/Gulf News

Nairobi: Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga yesterday rejected bilateral talks with President Mwai Kibaki, dimming hopes for a breakthrough to end turmoil that has led to almost 500 deaths.

Kibaki had invited Odinga to talks on Friday but the opposition leader says he will only attend negotiations mediated by African Union chairman John Kufuor, who was expected in Nairobi yesterday.

Kibaki did not invite Kufuor to the Friday talks and officials say he will remain in Nairobi for little more than 24 hours.

"We will not attend the talks on Friday. They are a sideshow," Odinga told a news conference.

Despite huge international pressure, especially from Western powers, Kibaki and Odinga have still not met face-to-face since violence erupted after Kibaki's disputed re-election on December 30.

Must step down

Odinga says Kibaki stole the December 27 election and must step down and make way for a new vote after a transitional period.

Kibaki has offered a government of national unity but is reluctant to accept international mediation. His officials say the crisis is an internal matter.

Aid agencies, meanwhile, were erecting makeshift plastic tents in fields and rushing food, blankets, medicines and water to tens of thousands of refugees.

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