NAIROBI, Kenya – Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan suspended crisis talks in Kenya today after an opposition lawmaker was shot dead by a policeman, triggering further clashes which killed at least two.    The talks are scheduled to resume tomorrow, and current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said he will go to Kenya as well to help with the talks. 

National police chief Hussein Ali said lawmaker David Too was killed in a “crime of passion” over the traffic policeman’s girlfriend.  Opposition leaders however have called it an assassination and see it as part of the country’s deepening ethnic strife.  Following the death of Too, thousands of people from his Kalenjin ethnic group sought revenge and set houses on fire and blocked roads on the outskirts of town. 

Meanwhile, African leaders at a summit in Ethiopia have been told that they need to solve the crisis in Kenya.  African Union commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare told them they could not sit by and that “[i]f Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow.” 

Almost 1,000 people have died and more than 300,000 have been displaced following the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.  Opposition leader Raila Odinga lost the election and has refused to recognize the legitimacy of Kibaki’s government.  His party has pressed for an electoral re-run, but the government continues to insist on dialogue.   

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Stop Kenya burning, says AU head – 31 January 2008

BBC News – Tension after Kenyan MP shot dead – 31 January 2008

AFP – Kenya crisis talks suspended after opposition MP shot dead – 31 January 2008

AP – Opposition Lawmaker Killed in Kenya – 31 January 2008