If Annan’s talks fail, we shall be doomed: media

Saturday, February 02, 2008

 

NAIROBI - Kenyan newspapers on Saturday warned that the country will be doomed if talks chaired by Kofi Annan fail to end the ballooning political crisis that has killed some 1,000 people and displaced nearly 300,000.

 

The warning came a day after representatives of President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed a joint roadmap to end the Kenyan crisis spurred by the December 27 disputed presidential elections.

 

“If Annan’s talks fail, we shall be doomed,” the Standard newspaper warned in an editorial.

 

“The ongoing talks remain the only hope of ending the bloodletting,” the newspaper warned.

 

The newspaper praised Annan’s efforts that yielded a four-point agenda, whose priority was “immediate action to stop the violence and restore fundamental rights and liberties.”

 

Both sides would then address the growing humanitarian crisis caused by the unrest and resolve the political crisis created after Odinga accused Kibaki of having rigged the election to rob him of the presidency in the widely-contested polls.

 

Annan gave a deadline of seven to 15 days from the start of the dialogue on January 28 to resolve the first three points.

 

“The progress the Annan team has made, and growing confidence in the negotiating teams fronted by parties, is uplifting for a people who have seen the image of their country as an island of peace burst like a bubble,” Standard said.

 

“Parallel to the economic ruin is infrastructural destruction, raging fires of ethnic suspicion and threats by international development partners to cut aid.

 

“The evolving picture is one in which we could easily be a pariah state, much in the ranks of Zimbabwe,” the Standard warned.

 

The mass circulation Saturday Nation said the African Union, currently holding a summit in Addis Ababa, was duty-bound the save Kenya which is “on a verge of a civil war.

 

“The Union, which is long accused of being a toothless bulldog, is confronted with two options: To engage in usual monologue as Kenya burns or take decisive steps to prevent it from sliding into the abyss,” the Nation said in an editorial.

 

“Leaders who met to discuss crises in Darfur and Somalia cannot sit and watch as another catastrophe builds up,” it added.

 

The Kenyan crisis was worsened this week after two opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) lawmakers were killed, setting off fresh riots mainly in the volatile western Kenya that had been ripped open by tribal fighting.

 

Thursday’s killing of David Kimutai Too by a policeman sparked rioting in his hometown, where thousands of armed youth razed killed a policeman when they razed a government office and stole guns.

 

Paramilitary units are currently scouring Ainamoi area to recover the guns.

 

The first MP, Melitus Mugabe Were, was shot early Tuesday outside his home in Nairobi.

 

Police say Toos’ killing appeared to be a “crime of passion,” but the ODM said both deaths were political assassinations designed to reduce the opposition’s majority in parliament.

 

The Kenya Times said their deaths will certainly complicate Annan talks, which are expected to resume Monday, to get a lasting solution.

 

“An environment where news of deaths including that of legislators punctuate talks does not promise much in the search for a peaceful settlement,” The Kenya Times said in an editorial.

 

Source: AFP, Saturday, February 02, 2008