US Denounces Kenya "Cleansing" Peace Negations Continue

30 January 2008 BBC

Kenyans, mainly from the Luo tribe, one armed with a machete, enforce a roadblock in Kisumu

Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer stated the forced removal of people from Kenya's Rift Valley poll was ethnic cleansing and also denounced the continuing violence which has since forced thousands to flee their homes. "The aim originally was not to kill, it was to cleanse, it was to push them out of the region." "I met with the individuals who were victims of the violence - they all said that they were being pushed out of the area, that organized groups came to them and said: 'You must leave your house by a certain time'."

Frazer called on Kenyan political leaders to focus on ending their country's political crisis, and urged them to publicly call for an end to the violence.

The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has given the two sides four weeks to resolve immediate political issues, and up to a year to sort out details. Launching the formal mediation process Annan warned that the crisis was having a "profound and negative impact" and urged both sides to take the talks seriously or risk losing international aid.