TIMELINE: Kenya in crisis after disputed elections

Tue Jan 8, 2008 8:28pm GMT
 
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(Reuters) - Opposition supporters rioted in the western city of Kisumu on Tuesday after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki named several members of a new cabinet, dashing hopes of an end to post-election bloodshed.

Here is a chronology of the recent turmoil:

December 27 - Voters elect a new president and parliament. Most opinion polls give a lead to Kibaki's opposition rival Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement.

December 30 - Kibaki wins close-run election by the narrow margin of 230,000 votes and is hurriedly sworn in.

December 31 - The government floods the streets with security forces and keeps a ban on live TV broadcasts after riots convulse the nation.

January 1 - A mob torches a church, killing about 30 villagers.

January 2 - Kibaki's government accuses Odinga's backers of "ethnic cleansing" as the death toll from tribal violence reaches about 300.

January 3 - Attorney General Amos Wako calls for an independent probe into the election. After hours of police clashes with thousands of protesters, the opposition call off a planned demonstration.

-- South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu begins to try to mediate an end to the crisis.  Continued...

 

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