Israelis should avoid Kenya, Foreign Ministry says

More than 135 dead in riots after a presidential vote that opponents say was rigged.

By HERB KEINON, AP
kenya riots 224.88 ap (photo credit: AP)
kenya riots 224.88 ap
(photo credit: AP)
The Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a recommendation to Israelis to postpone visits to Kenya for the time being because of the tension in that country. In addition, the the ministry "recommended to Israelis already in Kenya to reduce their movement and to refrain from going to places of protest," such as east Nairobi and poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Explosive riots have rocked Kenya from the shantytowns of the capital to the sweltering coast, killing at least 135 people after a presidential vote that opponents say was rigged and observers say was suspicious at best. Fighting Monday brought much of the country to a standstill as residents stocked up on food and hunkered down in their homes for a third day. In the slums, where one-third of Nairobi's population lives, rioters waved machetes and shouted [President Mwai] "Kibaki must go!" Police beat them back with truncheons, tear gas and live bullets fired in the air. "We are ready to die and we're ready for serious killings," said one man in Nairobi's Kibera slum, as the homes and shops around him burned. "We are calling for mass action," said Raila Odinga, the opposition candidate who had been leading Kibaki in early results and public opinion polls before his lead evaporated between Saturday night and Sunday morning. "We will march wearing black arm bands because we are mourning." Odinga called his march for Thursday in Uhuru Park, where protesters seeking multiparty democracy gathered in the early 1990s. Police had warned him not to rally Monday, and teams of riot police were deployed in Kibera and the Mathere slum, blocking residents from the city.