Report: Kenya leaders view AU help
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) — Both the president of Kenya and the leader of the country’s main opposition party are willing to meet with the African Union to find a solution to their political stalemate — one that stemmed from a disputed election and led to the deaths of hundreds in a week-long ethnic cleansing spree, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who chairs the African Union, is expected to arrive in Kenya in the next several days to mediate between the two leaders, the official said.
The official said the United States sees a power sharing arrangement in the country as an option but said Kenyans would have to decide what shape such an an arrangement takes.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki had said Saturday he was ready to consider a government of national unity.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga indicated he was willing to negotiate. He has not, however, backed down from his demands that Kibaki — who was hastily sworn-in in the aftermath of the vote — resign as president and hold fresh elections.
The official appeared to pour cold water on the calls for new elections, telling CNN the three-to-six months timeline that Odinga is proposing is impractical.
The official did not directly respond to whether the United States applied strong pressure on both sides, saying only that both sides value our relationship and see the U.S. as a neutral player.
America is also pushing to get the ban on live broadcasts lifted, the official said. The country plunged into a news blackout after the government suspended all broadcasts as violence engulfed the capital following the re-election of incumbent president Kibaki in the controversial election on December 27.
Rioters went on a rampage following Kibaki’s narrow victory, which was disputed by Odinga’s party. The Orange Democratic Movement accused the president of election fraud.
According to the United Nations, some 250,000 Kenyans are now estimated to have been displaced by rioting and looting. Around 300 people are reported to have died in the unrest.
A convoy of food trucks left the eastern port of Mombasa Sunday in an effort to address the humanitarian crisis.
Twenty trucks loaded with 670 tons of food - enough to feed at least 70,000 people for two weeks - set out under police escort, the World Food Program said in a statement.
Carrying pulses, vegetable oil and a highly nutritious corn-soya blend, the vehicles were destined for Nairobi and the Rift Valley town of Eldoret in western Kenya, the U.N. food agency said.
The offer of a unity government followed talks Saturday between the Kenyan president and Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Asst. Secretary of State for Africa.
Frazer flew in Friday to try to broker a solution to the crisis.
Both sides have shown flexibility and will work together to bring Kenya together, Frazer said. But detailed talks will be required to figure out what kind of political arrangement is acceptable, one they can have trust in. We want no more Kenyans to lose their lives.
Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government spokesman, did not say if the offer meant the president was prepared to enter into a power-sharing arrangement with Odinga.
Mutua said the president was ready to work with like minded parties.
We do want a strong opposition, otherwise we would have a one-party state, Mutua added.
Reacting to the news, Odinga told a press conference that he would be happy to sit down and negotiate with Kibaki.
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