Jan. 05 - Kenya's President says he is willing to form a unity government to end the conflict over last week's disputed election.
The apparent olive branch came in a statement from President Mwai Kibaki's office but his main opposition rivals are reiterating their demands for his resignation and a re-run of the disputed ballot that saw Kibaki narrowly hold on to power.
Paul Chapman reports.
Kibaki ready for unity government | Video | Reuters.com
Kenyan Leader Makes Unity Offer
By SARAH CHILDRESS
January 5, 2008 10:37 a.m.
NAIROBI, Kenya -- After a week of political stalemate and bloodshed, Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki said Saturday that he was prepared to form a government of national unity with the opposition, easing tensions between the two side and potentially setting the stage for negotiations to end violence that has so far killed at least 300 people and displaced as many as 250,000.
The statement, which was released shortly after Mr. Kibaki met with Jendayi Frazer, America's top diplomat for Africa, suggested a power-sharing agreement between the president and his challenger, Raila Odinga, who claims that Mr. Kibaki stole presidential elections late last month.
"The president said he was ready to form a government of national unity that would not only unite Kenyans but would also help in the healing and reconciliation process," the statement said.
Kenya, once considered a safe haven in a region wracked by civil war, dissolved into ethnic clashes shortly after Mr. Kibaki was hastily sworn in Dec. 30 after a presidential election criticized by international observers. Supporters of Mr. Odinga, an ethnic Luo, and Kikuyus, Mr. Kibaki's tribe, clashed in sometimes-horrific violence in the days after the election.
Kenya has become an important ally to the U.S. Mr. Kibaki has worked closely with the Americans to fight extremists, and Washington has invested millions in training and equipment for Kenyan forces. As the largest economy and most stable country in East Africa, Kenya has also played an important role as a peacekeeper in the region.
Mr. Kibaki responded to the election protests by filling the streets of Nairobi, the capital city, with police clad in olive-drab body armor, and sending reinforcements into the western part of the country, an Odinga stronghold.
Representatives from the European Union, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and several African countries pled with both sides for reconciliation in recent days. But while both sides called for peace, they also blamed the violence solely on their rival's supporters, and until Saturday, showed little willingness to compromise with each other.
Mr. Odinga had recently agreed to a neutral mediator such as the head of the African Union, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, and held meetings with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others. But Mr. Kibaki's government had said it wouldn't negotiate with those who instigated violence, and suggested he would only consider a recount if a court ordered it, an unlikely outcome.
Mr. Odinga stopped short Saturday of embracing the idea of a power-sharing agreement. But crucially he didn't rule it out, either. Asked at a press briefing Saturday whether he would agree to a national unity government, Mr. Odinga said, "Let them put that on the table when we negotiate."
At the briefing he said that there were only two options: Mr. Kibaki, whom he called a "thief sitting in the State House," should step down as president; or the elections must be rerun. Any negotiations, he said, would have to be conducted through an international mediator.
Still, Mr. Kibaki's concession brought fresh hope to Kenyans, most of whom are exhausted and horrified by the violence. One local newspaper printed messages sent in by text from people begging Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga to reconcile. Radio and television announcers broadcast the same message in interviews with ordinary Kenyans.
In Nairobi, many people have cautiously resumed their normal lives. Traffic is returning to the streets, restaurants stay open after dark and long lines at supermarkets have dwindled. The police, a ubiquitous presence just a few days earlier, no longer outnumber pedestrians along the roadside.
In western Kenya, aid groups struggled to provide water, food and other supplies to displaced, and hospitals were overwhelmed trying to provide medical care to those who had been hacked by mobs armed with machetes or shot by paramilitary police. Kisumu, which was embroiled in violence this week, yesterday had settled into a tense calm as families returned to search for the bodies of their missing relatives.
Mr. Odinga plans to hold a rally in Uhuru Park in Nairobi on Tuesday. The government banned the past two attempts to hold a meeting, chasing away demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons. Mr. Kibaki's government said Mr. Odinga aims to rekindle violence. Mr. Odinga said it's simply to thank his supporters.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki appeared to offer a way out of a stalemate with the opposition over disputed elections, announcing Saturday he was ready to form a government of national unity, a government spokesman said.
Internally displaced Kenyans gather at St. John's cathedral in Eldoret, Kenya, on Friday.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga immediately responded to the announcement, telling a press conference that he was ready to negotiate with the president without preconditions.
Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) had earlier insisted Kibaki must resign before talks could take place.
The apparent olive branch came as new figures revealed the humanitarian cost of a week-long spate of violence.
According to the United Nations, some 250,000 Kenyans are now estimated to have been displaced by rioting and looting that accompanied the result of the Dec. 27 election.
The U.N. said that in total, between 400,000 and 500,000 people had been affected by the unrest. Around 300 people are reported to have died. 
The humanitarian crisis came after rioters went on the rampage following Kibaki's narrow victory, which was disputed by Odinga's party. The ODM accused the president of election fraud.
The violence that has plagued Kenya in the last week appeared to have abated Saturday, with CNN's Kim Norgaard saying Nairobi was quiet as inhabitants went about their normal business.
In the western town of Kisumu, the scene of some of the worst unrest, the police lifted a curfew imposed earlier this week, aid workers in the town told CNN.
Kenyan police said that more than 1,000 arrests had been made in connection with post-election unrest.
In a statement released Saturday police said that 451 of those arrested had already been charged and a further 70 are still in police custody.
The charges are for offenses including arson, unlawful assembly, robbery and murder, the statement said. The highest number of arrests took place in the coastal region, it added.
The offer of a unity government followed talks Saturday between the Kenyan president and U.S. diplomat Jendayi Frazer, who flew in a day earlier to try to broker a solution to the crisis.
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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.
Pressed by CNN as to whether he would willingly serve in a coalition government with the incumbent leader, he said it was a matter for the negotiating table.
The Kenyan Red Cross, meanwhile, is appealing for $15.4 billion in aid for those forced from their homes by the crisis.
Kenyan Red Cross spokesman Anthony Mwangi said the biggest concern was getting food to those in remote areas.
The World Food Program said it would shortly provide food through the Kenya Red Cross for 100,000 people displaced in the northern Rift Valley.
The U.N. food agency said the movement of food through western Kenya and the rest of the region -- including Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) -- ground to a halt for days due to the unrest .
CNN's Kim Norgaard and Paula Newton in Nairobi contributed to this report.
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