Paramilitary police are combing through a downtown Nairobi park for clues after two explosions ripped through a political rally, killing six people and wounding more than 100.
The blasts happened late on Sunday as a political rally against a draft constitution due to be submitted to a referendum on Aug. 4 was concluding.
Authorities on Sunday said five people had died, but police yesterday said they had found a sixth body — a 51-year-old man with shrapnel wounds in a car next to the park.
A pastor who is against the draft constitution, James Nganga, blamed backers of the new constitution for the blast. Government officials have not yet named any suspects.
The campaign against the draft constitution opposes a clause that would allow abortion to save a mother’s life.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki yesterday convened an emergency meeting of the country’s security chiefs following the blasts.
“The president has convened an early morning security meeting to discuss this matter, in order to get to the depth of this matter,” Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka told reporters. “We want to get to the bottom of this matter ... we are appealing for calm from all Kenyans as police investigate the matter.”
The emergency meeting was due to be attended by the president, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the ministers of interior and defense, as well as the country’s army chief.
On Aug. 4, a referendum is due to be held on a new constitution, which had been one of the main reforms pledged by Kenya’s leaders in the aftermath of the deadly violence sparked by a disputed 2007 election.
Sunday’s blasts were the worst incident of its kind since the police and tribal violence that killed 1,500, displaced hundreds of thousands and rattled Kenya’s image as the region’s most stable nation.
Although Kenya’s once feuding principals openly support the new constitution, their respective parties appear divided, with some politicians concerned over land issues and a clause on abortion.
The referendum also comes against the backdrop of an intensifying race for the next presidential election, due in 2012.
A prominent backer of the campaign against the draft, Kenyan Agriculture Minister William Ruto, called the attack “the darkest hour of our nation.”
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