New Clashes in Nairobi Slum

18 Jan 2008 CNN

Supporter of Kenya's Opposition Party

Young men armed with machetes hurled stones at police who fired back tear gas in a slum in Kenya's capital, but most of the country was quiet as opposition protests over a disputed presidential election appeared to lose steam.

Police firing tear gas and bullets halted protests the violence appeared to have been worst in Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city, where opposition officials said police killed protesters. One such shooting was captured by local television crews, but it was unclear if the wounded man died.

At least four corpses lay in a morgue in Kisumu, all adult males. Each had been shot. The government has banned the demonstrations, but the opposition and Kenyan human rights groups say the government has no authority to do so.

This week, 13 nations, including the United States and Britain, increased pressure on rival politicians to find a solution, threatening to cut aid to the Kenyan government. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the $270 million budgeted in the current fiscal year for humanitarian programs would not be affected.

A few dozen miles outside the western town of Eldoret, 12 empty trucks and buses blocked a main road. The drivers, milling nearby, said they had been stopped overnight by around 150 young men armed with machetes who robbed them, flattened their tires and stole fuel. One bus was filled with aid supplies from the U.N. World Food Program.

The United Nations launched an appeal for nearly $42 million to help half a million Kenyans affected by the violence. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said the money was needed to provide food, shelter, health care and other services for the next six months.