Kenyan police ordered ‘shoot to kill’

NAIROBI – Kenyan police have been given orders to shoot to kill in a bid to stem weeks of violence, a police commander said yesterday, a day after Kofi Annan launched crisis talks between feuding political leaders.

The orders, issued for the second time since President Mwai Kibaki’s contested re-election last month, followed the launch by the former UN chief of a dialogue between Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of the presidency. They also came amid mounting international condemnation of a spiral of violence in which almost 1 000 people have died and more than a quarter of a million have been displaced.But Odinga called for them to be cancelled immediately.”The shoot to kill order is illegal, no matter what the crime,” he said in a speech to residents in the opposition stronghold Kibera slum in Nairobi, calling it “a sign of a government that has run amok.”His supporters cheered at his comments but also called for weapons to protect themselves in the volatile shanty town that has seen some of the worst fighting in recent weeks.A police commander earlier said the orders would cover “those looting property, burning houses, carrying offensive weapons, barricading roads.”Police reported 22 new deaths as political crisis talks began Tuesday, particularly in opposition strongholds in western Kenya’s Rift Valley.Annan said he hoped the immediate political issues could be resolved within four weeks and gave Kenya one year to resolve damage inflicted by a month of chaos.”We are confident that the issues can be resolved within a year and …that immediate political issues, what we are describing as short-term issues, can be resolved within four weeks, if not shorter,” he said.Both leaders called for peace and committed themselves to dialogue.Each side has formed a negotiating team of three members, but further details of the talks are as yet unclear.However, in further mud-slinging, Odinga accused “our adversaries” of having a hand in the killing of an opposition MP in Nairobi on Tuesday.Odinga has refused to recognise the legitimacy of Kibaki’s presidency and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has pressed for an electoral re-run, but the government has instead pressed for dialogue.Members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe suffered heavily in the first violence after the December 27 election from members of Odinga’s Luo tribe and other ethnic groups, but have since carried out numerous revenge attacks.Nampa-AFPThey also came amid mounting international condemnation of a spiral of violence in which almost 1 000 people have died and more than a quarter of a million have been displaced.But Odinga called for them to be cancelled immediately.”The shoot to kill order is illegal, no matter what the crime,” he said in a speech to residents in the opposition stronghold Kibera slum in Nairobi, calling it “a sign of a government that has run amok.”His supporters cheered at his comments but also called for weapons to protect themselves in the volatile shanty town that has seen some of the worst fighting in recent weeks.A police commander earlier said the orders would cover “those looting property, burning houses, carrying offensive weapons, barricading roads.”Police reported 22 new deaths as political crisis talks began Tuesday, particularly in opposition strongholds in western Kenya’s Rift Valley.Annan said he hoped the immediate political issues could be resolved within four weeks and gave Kenya one year to resolve damage inflicted by a month of chaos.”We are confident that the issues can be resolved within a year and …that immediate political issues, what we are describing as short-term issues, can be resolved within four weeks, if not shorter,” he said.Both leaders called for peace and committed themselves to dialogue.Each side has formed a negotiating team of three members, but further details of the talks are as yet unclear.However, in further mud-slinging, Odinga accused “our adversaries” of having a hand in the killing of an opposition MP in Nairobi on Tuesday.Odinga has refused to recognise the legitimacy of Kibaki’s presidency and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has pressed for an electoral re-run, but the government has instead pressed for dialogue.Members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe suffered heavily in the first violence after the December 27 election from members of Odinga’s Luo tribe and other ethnic groups, but have since carried out numerous revenge attacks.Nampa-AFP