Police yesterday fired teargas to disperse scores of supporters of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki who took to the streets of Nairobi to back his disputed re-election.
Police chased the supporters, who had been chanting "Lead on, Kibaki," into shops and nearby alleys in the latest bout of unrest in the east African nation.
Police have banned street protests since the election, almost all of which have been by the opposition.
About a dozen police officers fired at least three canisters of tear gas at the group, which numbered around 100, as they moved down a main street with banners saying "Respect Kibaki" and showing his face.
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was due in Kenya later yesterday to try to mediate the crisis since a Dec. 27 vote that the opposition says was rigged in favor of Kibaki.
Annan, along with Graca Machel, the wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, will join former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa who, with two other former African heads of state, has failed to revive a moribund international mediation effort.
Police said yesterday that six people had been killed in tribal clashes in the Rift Valley.
The latest deaths brought to at least 63 the number of people killed since last Wednesday, when opposition chief Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) called for nationwide protests over the re-election of Kibaki.
The six, including a father and his two sons, were killed late on Monday in the volatile Molo district, where rival tribes have been clashing in recent weeks, a police commander told reporters.
"There is a big problem in Molo," he said.
Demonstrations
Meanwhile, the ODM has called for demonstrations tomorrow which police have vowed to block, raising fears of fresh street confrontations.
"The police are doing all they can to ensure that the rule of law is respected and is inviting all citizens to assist them," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told reporters.
"We also appreciate the support the police is receiving from the people of Kenya and the government in trying to restore law and order across the country," he said.
Political protests have devolved into tribal clashes, taking place mainly in western Kenyan and Nairobi's crowded slums -- ethnic tinderboxes where most of Kenya's 42-plus tribes coexist -- and in rural areas already beset by feuds over land and resources.
Kikuyu tribe
Most of the victims are members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, which has dominated the country's economic life for years and has been the target of revenge attacks since Kibaki was accused of rigging the Dec. 27 elections.
Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who chairs a government panel struggling to launch dialogue, hit out at the opposition for its hardline stance, calling on them to refrain from disrespecting the courts.
"Let us not disown the courts. It is crucial that we uphold the independence of the judiciary and follow the due process: It is our responsibility as a regional bloc to respect the rule of law," said Muskoya.
Odinga has refused to take the electoral dispute to court, insisting the judiciary is loyal to Kibaki, and has vowed never to sit down with Musyoka, whom he accuses of being a traitor like "Judas Escariot."
Musyoka fell out with Odinga after a power struggle shortly before last month's elections, and sought the presidency on his own but finished third.
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