Kenyan opposition delay banned rally

Kenya's opposition has called off a banned rally in an attempt to end violence, but said another gathering will take place on Tuesday.William Ruto, an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, said they hoped the move would end running battles between police and protesters.He said: "We shall end our meeting here. As ODM we are peaceful people. We will hold a peaceful meeting on January 8."We don't want any more lives lost. Our fight is not with ordinary Kenyans. Our fight is with Mwai Kibaki."Teargas and water cannon had been fired at thousands of the protesters after opposition leader Raila Odinga had vowed to defy police and go ahead with the million-strong protest against President Kibaki's disputed re-election in the East African country.Political tensions have degenerated into explosive ethnic violence, with members of Mr Kibaki's powerful Kikuyu tribe, influential in politics and business, clashing with Mr Odinga's Luos and others.Anger over the December 27 polls triggered violence which has left over 300 people dead, including dozens of terrified women and children who died when the church in which they were sheltering was torched.More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes and Britons are being told to cancel any non-essential visits to the country by the Foreign Office.And all of the UK's major tour operators have suspended holidays to Kenya for the next two days, the Federation of Tour Operators has said.Nairobi has now become a battleground as shots rang out while crowds, chanting "Peace" and singing the national anthem, were met by riot police who thronged the streets.The violence in the capital has been repeated in other towns, including the opposition stronghold of Kisumu in west Kenya.After dawn, thousands poured out of the pro-opposition Kibera slum and other shanty towns to head for Nairobi's Uhuru Park for the banned rally but were met by police.World leaders have strongly condemned the recent wave of political and ethnic violence and urged a return to peace.Prime Minister Gordon Brown was joined by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon as well as the United States in calling for an immediate end to violence."I believe there is a responsibility on the part of all the opposition and government leaders in Kenya to call on the supporters to end the violence that is taking place," he said.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a personal appeal to Kenya's political rivals to forge a compromise.South Africa's Nobel peace laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is in Kenya to try and start mediation.He said: "This is a country that has been held up as a model of stability. This picture has been shattered."I don't think there is anybody who would be unmoved by the pictures that are coming out - of people who burned to death in a church. This is not the Kenya that we know."Before meeting Archbishop Tutu, Mr Odinga called President Kibaki a "thief" who had carried out "a civilian coup".He said: "The people will not take this vote-rigging by the government lying down."The government has said "well-organised acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were well planned, financed and rehearsed" by Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement ahead of last week's vote.Kenyan media has united in pleas for peace, with every major newspaper running the same front-page headline: "Save Our Beloved Country".© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | January 3, 2008

Tags:. .clashing. .dawn. .tensions. .cancel. .anger