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At least 13 killed in day of Kenya protests

Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:25pm IST
 
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Maasai and Kikuyu had been fighting in the area since Thursday with homes and shops burned and at least 23 wounded, the police said. Riot police had to be sent in to clear barricades erected by Maasais, a Reuters journalist said.

The opposition said police fatally shot two protesters in Mombasa, Kenya's Indian Ocean port. Officials could confirm only one death there.

In Kibera, MSF official Ian Van Engelgem told Reuters: "We have seen violence over the last two weeks but today it has really exploded. Young guys -- 13 years -- have died, young women, young men, this is unbelievable ... this is like a massacre."

Odinga visited Masaba hospital and told reporters: "You have seen what we have seen, a shocking thing ... this government is determined to finish anyone who is opposed to what they have done."

Kenya's swift slide into crisis has dented its democratic credentials, horrified world powers, scared off tourists and hurt one of Africa's most promising economies.

A statement by envoys from nine countries including Britain, the Netherlands and Australia, urged Kibaki and Odinga to meet for direct talks without delay or preconditions, and called on Kenya's security forces to show restraint.

"We have seen clear and disturbing footage of the use of lethal force on unarmed demonstrators," it said.

ODM said earlier it would call off street protests after Friday and switch its campaign to small strikes and boycotts of companies run by Kibaki allies.

(Additional reporting by Bryson Hull, Nick Tattersall, Bosire Nyairo, Joseph Sudah, George Obulutsa)

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