Kenyans call for an end to bloodshed

By Andrew Cawthorne and Jack Kimball, Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:11am EST,

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyans pleaded on Wednesday for an end to violence that has killed 850 people and created unprecedented horror in the east African nation's darkest moment since 1963 independence.

Protests over President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election in a December 27 election have degenerated into cycles of killing between rival tribes, and there is increasing evidence of gangs being well organized on both sides.

"Peace", "Love", "Sorry", read cards on wreaths of flowers among dozens starting to be laid by peace activists and other concerned citizens at Nairobi's "Freedom Corner" in the centre of the capital.

"Stop The Killing Now," read another.

The violence has taken the lid off decades-old divisions between communities over land, wealth and power that hark back to British colonial rule and have been stoked by politicians at election time over 44 years of independence.

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan was planning to stage a second day of talks between Kenya's feuding political rivals to try to halt the bloodshed after bringing them together on Tuesday.

Used to their nation being seen as a relatively peaceful haven in a turbulent region, Kenyans are aghast at scenes of people being hacked, burned or clubbed to death in Nairobi slums and around the volatile Rift Valley.

More than 250,000 people are living as refugees -- a sad irony not lost on Kenyans more used to receiving the displaced from war-torn neighbors like Sudan and Somalia.

Many blame President Mwai Kibaki and opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga for unleashing the chaos by failing to reconcile their political differences more quickly, and then not standing up to stop the violence.

The worst violence has been between Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe on the one side, and the Luos of Odinga's community plus the mainly pro-opposition Kalenjins on the other.

OUTSIDE HELP?

"Every image of a razed house, every shot of a drying patch of blood is a chilling reminder of the deep fissures which have turned Kenya's fabled unity into a mirage," wrote Kenya's leading newspaper, the Daily Nation, in an editorial.

"The fear of civil war is not far-fetched and the prospect of healing wounds and reconstruction is simply daunting," it added, warning that Kibaki, as the man in the top office, must take ultimate responsibility "if Kenya disintegrates."

Annan, facing one of the toughest tasks of his lengthy diplomatic career, launched formal mediation talks on Tuesday.

Annan said he was confident "immediate political issues" could be resolved within four weeks, but broader issues underlying the crisis may take a year.

Small negotiating teams for both sides were due to meet again on Wednesday -- but the parties remained far apart.

Kibaki, 76, wants recognition as president first, although he has said he will consider a power-sharing arrangement.

Odinga, 63, says he is the legitimate president but was robbed by fraud during the vote count. He wants Kibaki to stand down or allow a new election after a period of power-sharing.

Hardliners in both camps are stalling progress.

The crisis is wreaking havoc in Kenya's economy, east Africa's largest and previously one of its brightest.

The $1 billion a year tourism industry faces collapse, flower production and transport round the lakeside town of Naivasha has been disrupted in the run-up to the lucrative Valentine's Day period, and growth forecasts have been cut.

The currency is near a three-year low, stocks are down.

"This is little short of a disaster," said a white Kenyan farmer, whose workers on his Naivasha estate have scattered due to ethnic differences and fear of violence. "We are seriously thinking of leaving the country for the first time."

A civil society group, the National Community-Based Organisation Council, called on Wednesday for African Union or United Nations peacekeepers to come and help "overwhelmed" security services. The group put the number of dead across Kenya at 2,000, and displaced at more than 500,000.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Sudah and Duncan Miriri; writing by Andrew Cawthorne; editing by Keith Weir)