Rice arrives in Kenya for crisis talks

NAIROBI – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Kenya yesterday and urged President Mwai Kibaki to accept a power-sharing deal and join a grand coalition with rival Raila Odinga.

“There needs to be a governance arrangement that will allow real power-sharing, that will allow a grand coalition,” Rice told reporters as she lent her weight to efforts to end Kenya’s recent turmoil. Rice spoke after meeting with former United Nations chief Kofi Annan who is leading mediation talks to end the post-election turmoil and violence that killed more than 1 000 people.Annan, and now Rice, are seeking an accord between President Mwai Kibaki, 76, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, 63, who claims he was robbed of victory in the widely contested elections on December 27.”The USA will continue to be a good friend of Kenya…but we have to be a good friend of a Kenya that is stable, that has a legitimate government that is able to really govern its people,” Rice said.Kibaki’s government had served notice on the eve of her visit that it would not bow to pressure to enter into an agreement with Odinga.”We encourage our friends to support us, to encourage us, but not to make any mistake by putting a gun to anybody’s head and say ‘either, or’ because that cannot work,” Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula told reporters on Sunday.US President George W Bush called for a power-sharing deal at the start of his Africa tour on Saturday.He said he was sending Rice to Kenya to support Annan’s mediation.Negotiations between the rival sides were due to resume yesterday, with Annan to meet separately with Kibaki and Odinga ahead of a new round of talks the following day.Rice’s spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Sunday in Dar es Salaam that the US secretary of state did not expect a “final deal” to be reached by yesterday.Kibaki’s camp has balked at a power-sharing deal, saying in talks led by Annan that it was willing to include opposition members in government, but under the strong executive leadership of the president.After initially welcoming Kibaki’s re-election, the United States backtracked in the face of mounting evidence of flaws in the presidential poll and is now pressing the president to agree to a coalition with Odinga.But during his visit to Tanzania on Sunday, Bush took pains to specify that the United States did not want to “dictate” a solution to Kenya, but merely “help move the process along.”The statement came after talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who holds the rotating chair of the African Union.The United States considers Kenya a strategic ally in the fight against militant extremists and a key player in resolving conflicts in neighbouring Somalia and Sudan.Nampa-AFPRice spoke after meeting with former United Nations chief Kofi Annan who is leading mediation talks to end the post-election turmoil and violence that killed more than 1 000 people.Annan, and now Rice, are seeking an accord between President Mwai Kibaki, 76, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, 63, who claims he was robbed of victory in the widely contested elections on December 27.”The USA will continue to be a good friend of Kenya…but we have to be a good friend of a Kenya that is stable, that has a legitimate government that is able to really govern its people,” Rice said.Kibaki’s government had served notice on the eve of her visit that it would not bow to pressure to enter into an agreement with Odinga.”We encourage our friends to support us, to encourage us, but not to make any mistake by putting a gun to anybody’s head and say ‘either, or’ because that cannot work,” Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula told reporters on Sunday.US President George W Bush called for a power-sharing deal at the start of his Africa tour on Saturday.He said he was sending Rice to Kenya to support Annan’s mediation.Negotiations between the rival sides were due to resume yesterday, with Annan to meet separately with Kibaki and Odinga ahead of a new round of talks the following day.Rice’s spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Sunday in Dar es Salaam that the US secretary of state did not expect a “final deal” to be reached by yesterday.Kibaki’s camp has balked at a power-sharing deal, saying in talks led by Annan that it was willing to include opposition members in government, but under the strong executive leadership of the president.After initially welcoming Kibaki’s re-election, the United States backtracked in the face of mounting evidence of flaws in the presidential poll and is now pressing the president to agree to a coalition with Odinga.But during his visit to Tanzania on Sunday, Bush took pains to specify that the United States did not want to “dictate” a solution to Kenya, but merely “help move the process along.”The statement came after talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who holds the rotating chair of the African Union.The United States considers Kenya a strategic ally in the fight against militant extremists and a key player in resolving conflicts in neighbouring Somalia and Sudan.Nampa-AFP