The increasingly alarming reports of brutality and killing on ethnic lines are rightly getting a lot of coverage. Richard Dowden explained well on the Today programme on Wednesday why comparisons with Rwanda are dangerous [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today ] . But the situation does not have to be a Rwanda for the countries of the region and the world to become concerned. Stories of Kalenjin and Kikuyu militias roaming rural Kenya in search of reprisals are stomach-churning.
There has been remarkable unanimity around the world about how Kenya can save itself from disaster: strong political leadership that recognises the need for control of militias, the need for credible investigation of allegations of electoral fraud, and the need for compromise about political power, in the short term while constitutional repair is undertaken, and in the medium term when the electorate have a further opportunity to express their views. Mark Malloch Brown met the key protagonists on Monday to give support to Kofi Annan's African Union mission. This is now the difference between the success of politics and its rejection. The AU meeting in Addis Abbaba provides the regional opportunity for pressure and engagement. But the Security Council of the UN is on standby as the world waits to see whether the country can be pulled back from the brink.
Posted at 12:24 31 January 2008 by David Miliband | Comments[3]
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