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27 Die in tribal gang Clashes tied to election

By Times Wires
Published January 27, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya

Three days of attacks and counterattacks among rival tribal gangs have killed at least 27 people in the previously calm city of Nakuru in western Kenya, prompting the deployment of the Kenyan army for the first time since the disputed presidential election last month unraveled the East African nation. People have been hacked with machetes, shot with poison arrows, stoned, bludgeoned and burned to death in street fighting mostly in the poorest neighborhoods of the city, said residents, local media and aid groups Saturday. Gangs of young men from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe are battling Kalenjins and Luos loyal to opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has accused Kibaki of stealing the Dec. 27 election.

LIMA, Peru

Peru, Canada sign free trade deal

Peru has signed a free trade agreement with Canada, President Alan Garcia announced on Saturday. The two nations' foreign ministers reached the deal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Garcia told Radioprogramas radio. The pact must be approved by both countries' legislatures. The deal could boost Peruvian exports of wood, furniture, mineral, natural gas and agricultural products to Canada, Garcia said. Peru is the second nation in South America to sign a free trade agreement with Canada, joining Chile, which struck an accord in 1997.

CAIRO, Egypt

Egypt to build nuclear reactor

Egypt will begin taking bids in February to build the country's first nuclear reactor, the state-run news agency reported Saturday. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced plans for the nuclear power project last year, saying it would diversify Egypt's energy resources and preserve the country's oil and gas. He said that the reactor would be for peaceful, power-generating purposes only and that Egypt would not seek a nuclear bomb. The project is expected to cost between $1.5-billion and $1.8-billion.

Elsewhere

Lusignan, Guyana: Gunmen stormed into a coastal village Saturday and killed 11 people, including five children, in violence blamed on gang leader Rondell Rawlins, who earlier last week accused security forces of kidnapping his pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend.

Amman, Jordan: A tour bus collided with a water tanker in northern Jordan Saturday, killing at least 21 people, the official Petra news agency reported. At least 33 others were injured, including three people in critical condition.

Puebla, Mexico: Mexican rescuers pulled injured French cave explorer Arthur Meauxone, 21, to safety early Saturday, working in a passageway so narrow they sometimes had to remove him from a stretcher and carry the man in their hands.

Colombo, Sri Lanka: Air force jets bombed the separatist Tamil rebels' naval headquarters Saturday, the military said. However, a pro-rebel Web site said the airstrike hit the offices of a British aid agency in rebel-held Mullaitivu district.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Police detained at least 40 activists Saturday in a crackdown on a planned opposition-led protest over inflation ahead of national elections expected within weeks.

Rome: Sicily's Gov. Salvatore Cuffaro resigned on Saturday, a week after he was convicted of providing information that helped a Mafia boss.

Times wires

[Last modified January 27, 2008, 02:04:03]