U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is appealing to Kenya's rival political leaders to end bloody post-election killings in the East African country, the State Department said Wednesday.
Rice will discuss by telephone with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in a bid to ask him to seek political reconciliation with opposition leader Raila Odinga, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"She's going to urge both gentlemen to do everything that they possibly can in the name of political reconciliation in Kenya to bring an end to any political tensions that might give rise to violence," McCormack said.
Rice had spoken to Odinga by telephone, according to the spokesman.
Incumbent Kibaki was re-elected president in the election after final results were released by the Electoral Commission of Kenya Sunday, but Odinga said he was robbed of victory by voting fraud.
The disputed elections have led to more than 300 people died in violence nationwide since election officials declared on Sunday that Kibaki had won the narrow Dec. 27 vote and the president was sworn in for a second term.
Declining to say whether the United States recognized Kibaki's victory as legitimate, McCormack said Washington had "concerns" about accusations of electoral malfeasance that must be addressed within the country's legal system in accordance with its constitution.
Source: Xinhua
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