Calls for Peace

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on Thursday, Jan. 3, a day after telephoning defeated presidential candidate Raila Odinga and Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju in Nairobi.

Odinga has charged that the Dec. 27 poll, which he lost by 230,000 votes to incumbent Mwai Kibaki, was flawed. Kibaki's Party of National Unity has insisted Kibaki was the rightful winner.

A statement released by the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said Steinmeier appealed to the government and opposition to avoid violence at a mass rally. Odinga later postponed that Nairobi rally.

"The postponement by Odinga's party provides a breathing space for both the government and the opposition to consult on a peaceful solution to the current crisis," Steinmeier said, appealing for calm and asking both sides to urge their supporters to be non-violent.

International support for recount

Kenyan Attorney General Amos Wako called Thursday on Kenyan television for an independent investigation into the vote count that led to President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election. He said "a proper tally ... should be undertaken immediately."

Steinmeier gave his support to a recount.

"I support the call by the attorney-general and the European Union election observers for a recount," he said. "This could be the basis for reconciliation between the parties and ethnic groups and for a return by Kenya to the path of democracy."

Steinmeier said Germany was concerned about post-election unrest that has seen at least 300 people killed and marked a disturbing change in the usually peaceful country.

EU, US call for coalition

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking by phone on Thursday "agreed that the important thing is to encourage the parties in Kenya to engage in dialogue," a spokeswoman for Solana said in Brussels.

The goal is to get the government and opposition parties to agree "on stopping the current destabilization and on setting up a government," she added.

The top US diplomat for African affairs, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, was to depart Washington for Kenya on Thursday to push the country's leaders to resolve the political stalemate that has prompted days of unrest and more than 300 deaths, the State Department said.

While announcing that he intended to clampdown on "criminal violence," Kibaki told journalists he was "prepared for political dialogue once the situation in the country is calm."