In Kenya, Meeting of Rivals Raises Hopes for Peace

KWAME HOLMAN:

It was a moment Kenyans had hoped for, for weeks: President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, shaking hands in Nairobi, after talks mediated by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Their goal:

to come up with a political compromise to end the recent violence in Kenya. But afterwards, divisions remained.

MWAI KIBAKI, President, Kenya:

After being sworn in as your duly-elected president of Kenya, I will personally lead our country in promoting unity, tolerance, peace and harmony among all Kenyans.

RAILA ODINGA, Kenyan Opposition Leader:

My party and I have been ready and prepared to take this long-awaited journey, which must end in restoring peace and justice in our troubled land.

KWAME HOLMAN:

President Kibaki declared victory in last month's elections and was sworn in for his second term December 30th. Odinga lost, despite early election returns and polls showing his Orange Democratic Movement Party was in the lead.

Odinga declared the vote tally was rigged, sparking weeks of clashes across the country. Political demonstrations turned violent when police used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the crowds.

The government reported 650 people have been killed, but Western diplomats and aid agencies put that number several hundred higher.

A quarter of a million people also were forced from their homes, as Kenyans of various tribes turned on each other with machetes and even torched a church full of women and children.

Although the clashes were sparked by politics, they have pitted minority tribes, such as Odinga's Luo, against the president's Kikuyu people, who've long dominated Kenyan politics and the economy.

Word of the meeting failed to stop new attacks. Yesterday, at least four more Kenyans were killed in and around Nairobi.