Efforts to resolve crisis in Kenya stall

Complaining that efforts to resolve Kenya’s political crisis have stalled, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday suspended mediation talks and called upon the nation’s presidential rivals to work with him directly.

“We cannot continue on the current basis,” Annan told reporters Tuesday evening after a daylong session with government and opposition negotiating teams ended in insults and acrimony. “We were turning around in circles.”

Also Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited Kenya last week to urge a settlement, expressed disappointment in what she called a “failure of leadership.” She warned that the U.S. would take “necessary steps” to punish those it deems responsible for torpedoing negotiations.

“I want to emphasize that the future of our relationship with both sides and their legitimacy hinges on their cooperation to achieve this political solution,” Rice said in a statement issued from China, where she is traveling.

Rice did not provide specifics on what steps Washington might take, but U.S. officials have threatened to reduce aid to Kenya or impose travel restrictions on leaders.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in this once-peaceful East African nation since a disputed Dec. 27 presidential ballot that uncorked decades of economic frustration and ethnic tensions. Both Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga claim they won the election, which international observers say was marred by widespread tallying irregularities.

Last week, Annan, who has been in Kenya since Jan. 22 to oversee African Union-led mediation efforts, expressed optimism that a compromise was imminent, saying he could see “light at the end of the tunnel.”

But he said Tuesday that little progress had been made this week. Annan emphasized that talks had not broken down permanently but had reached a stalemate that only the two principals can resolve.

In a sign of how far apart the parties remain, they did not even agree Tuesday on whether talks had stalled.

“We are not going around in circles,” said Mutula Kilonzo, one of the government’s negotiators. “It’s just that we have firm positions on both sides. We have tended to feel that we are being railroaded.”

Government officials have come under fire, both in Kenya and in the international community, for their perceived reluctance to cede real powers in a coalition government. On Tuesday, opposition negotiators accused them of reversing positions already agreed to at the negotiating table.

Over the last week, both sides have agreed to create a prime minister post for Odinga, but they remain divided on how much authority the position will carry. They also disagree on whether early elections should be held, how to share Cabinet positions and whether to formalize their agreement in the nation’s constitution.

Odinga, who believes Kibaki reneged on a 2002 promise to appoint him as prime minister, wants the creation and powers of his new post guaranteed in a constitutional amendment. He is threatening to resume nationwide protests Thursday if progress is not made.

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edmund.sanders@latimes.com