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2 rivals in Kenya agree on plan to halt violence

They commit to resolve presidential election dispute in 15 days.

By Washington Post
Published February 2, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed Friday on a plan to end weeks of postelection violence in this East African country.

With international pressure mounting, the death toll rising and the economy in various stages of collapse, the two leaders signed an agenda that includes a pledge to resolve the underlying political crisis within 15 days.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been mediating between the two sides to end fighting that has killed more than 800 people and displaced 300,000 since the disputed Dec. 27 election. At least 14 people were killed Friday.

Meanwhile, U.N. humanitarian officials expressed alarm over the rising number of sexual assaults in the hundreds of camps for displaced people that dot the Kenyan countryside.

"Whatever the motivation, the perpetrators are exploiting the conflict in order to commit sexual violence with impunity," said Elizabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The agreement signed Friday calls for the disarming of militias accused of ethnically based attacks in western Kenya and the opening of roads that have been blocked by demonstrators. It also requires the government to investigate charges that the police used excessive force.

Odinga's spokesman, Salim Lone, called the deal "a real breakthrough."

"It showed two sides with a vast difference between their position coming together to agree on something that is not central, but things that are very important," he said.

But the political impasse between the two leaders remains.

Odinga has accused Kibaki of rigging the election, a charge bolstered by international observers who have said the tally was so flawed it is impossible to know who won. Odinga has proposed a recount or an interim power-sharing agreement until a new election can be held in one or two years. Kibaki has rejected any proposal that implies he is not the duly elected president.

[Last modified February 2, 2008, 01:47:04]