Kenya opposition says will keep up pressure with strikes, economic boycotts

Opposition spokesman Salim Lone vowed a third and final day of rowdy rallies, in which at least 10 people have died, would continue nationwide Friday.

Next, he said, the opposition would urge consumers "boycott companies owned by hard-liners who are around Mr. Kibaki" and work with unions "to organize strikes in selected industries." He declined to give details.

Kenya, one of Africa's most stable and prosperous nations, exploded in violence after the Dec. 27 election, the tightest race in the country's history. Odinga insists Kibaki stole the vote and international observers as well as the electoral chief have question the results.

Furious over the alleged vote rigging, Odinga's supporters rose up, burning homes, clashing with police and exposing long-simmering ethnic tensions which have put hundreds of thousands of people on the run.

More than 600 people have been killed since then, the worst violence since a failed 1982 coup attempt.

Lone also said opposition leader Raila Odinga was open for dialogue.

"We are completely ready to negotiate in good faith. We want peace in the country," Lone said. "Our people are suffering."

Kibaki's government has made similar statements, but envoys from the U.S. and the African Union have failed to resolve the crisis or even bring Odinga and Kibaki together for talks.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had been expected Tuesday, but he fell ill and postponed his trip. Two other members of his mediation team arrived late Thursday, though. They included former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa and Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela, said Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula.

Odinga had called for three days of rallies against Kibaki to start Wednesday. On Thursday, police cracked down fiercely as protests lost steam, firing tear gas at a hospital in the western town of Eldoret and bullets elsewhere at seething, rock-throwing opposition supporters.

Five people were killed Wednesday and another five died Thursday, most from gunshot wounds.

Choking on the gas and fleeing rocks and bullets, many slum dwellers weary of the violence yearned for life to get back to normal.

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