Ghanaian President John Kufuor was set yesterday to resume talks with Kenyan leaders to attempt to break the political deadlock after disputed presidential polls that touched off a wave of unrest.
Kufuor, who chairs the African Union, held several hours of separate talks with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday, but officials reported no progress.
Kufuor reportedly failed to soften the stance of the feuding leaders to end the crisis, aggravated on Tuesday by Kibaki's announcement of a partial Cabinet.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Anger over the Dec. 27 presidential election -- which Odinga alleges was rigged -- exploded into nationwide rioting, killing at least 600 people and forcing some 257,000 to flee their homes, UN estimates showed.
Despite huge international pressure, the two rivals have still not met face-to-face since Kibaki was sworn in on Dec. 30.
"The only concrete proposal that Kufuor brought to the table was the establishment of a panel of eminent persons to mediate between both sides," said Anyang Nyongo, the secretary general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), on Wednesday.
Kibaki told Kufuor 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 furious rivals, an official from the presidency said.
"The opposition wants the president to recognize that there is a crisis in the country, but Kibaki refuses," he said.
Odinga claims he was robbed of victory in the Dec. 27 election, which was widely criticized for inconsistencies in the vote tallying process.
Police said late on Wednesday that stability had returned to most parts of the country, but attacks were still being reported across the nation, home to 37 million people from more than 40 tribes.
"There are some pockets where there are still attacks," national police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said, noting that six houses had been set on fire in Elburgon, in the tinderbox Rift Valley Province.
Kenyan police fired teargas at dozens of women supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga as they demonstrated and blocked a highway in a Nairobi suburb yesterday, a reporter at the scene said.
The group of around 70 women, including one carrying a young baby, dispersed after police fired tear gas and charged at them. Local police commander David Kerina said the march was illegal.
Top US envoy to Africa Jendayi Frazer, who had led diplomatic efforts in Kenya prior to Kufuor, was due to return to the talks yesterday after a visit to the Comoros.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was