Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan sought yesterday to quickly shore up his peace effort in Kenya as weeks of explosive violence showed no sign of abating, with scores killed over the weekend.
Annan met representatives of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga at a Nairobi hotel after the sides on Friday agreed to a "roadmap" for negotiations to end the crisis over flawed elections in December.
"The dialogue has resumed and both sides have reiterated their determination to end the crisis, giving priority to ending the fighting," a foreign ministry official said.
PHOTO: AFP
Annan's mediation effort has been seen as the nation's best hope of ending violence that has left more than 1,000 people dead and between 250,000 and 300,000 displaced in once stable Kenya.
Police said 74 people died over three days last weekend during fighting in the volatile west, this time pitting ethnic Kisiis and Kalenjins. About 20 Kalenjins died in clashes with police after attacking a police station.
Members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe suffered heavily in the first wave of violence at the hands of Odinga's Luo tribe and other ethnic groups, but have since carried out numerous revenge attacks.
Western Kenya remained tense as police vowed to take on roaming bands of armed youths who on Friday attacked a local police station and stole weapons.
Hundreds of ethnic Kikuyus, Kenya's dominant tribe, fled a small village outside Molo township in western Kenya over the weekend, saying they had been threatened by rival Kalenjins.
"The Kalenjins came on Friday night and started burning houses," 14-year-old Evans Njoroge said.
Annan has set a deadline of seven to 15 days to resolve all outstanding issues from the Dec. 27 election that Odinga claims was rigged and international observers have said was flawed.
Meanwhile, South African business tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa, chosen by Annan to head long-term mediation efforts in Kenya, pulled out yesterday because of reservations expressed by the Kenyan government.
"Kofi Annan reluctantly accepts the withdrawal of Cyril Ramaphosa from the role of chief mediator. Withdrawal is a result of reservations expressed by the government," a UN official said.
Kenyan officials have said that Ramaphosa, the chief negotiator for South Africa's African National Congress in talks that produced a peaceful end to apartheid in 1994, has business links to Kenyan opposition leader Odinga.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS