Kenyan Crisis

On Tuesday, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan launched mediation efforts to end the crisis in Kenya. Since Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was reelected in the country’s Dec. 27 election, over 850 people have been killed and 255,000 people displaced.

Opposition argues the election was rigged, and the reelection of Kibaki has spurred mass riots and killings, many being ethnically-driven clashes. If Annan’s peace talks do not work, the death tolls in Kenya could rise significantly.

During his assembly address, Annan called on Kenya's leaders to stop the "downward spiral into chaos that is threatening this beautiful country." "There is only one Kenya, we all have multiple identifies, but I hope you all see yourself as Kenyans first," Annan said. "(We) must stress our common humanity, and uphold respect for human rights and the dignity of others."

A fresh wave of riots began after the early-morning Tuesday murder of Mugabe Were, an opposition politician who was currently organizing a peace march to help stop the crisis and unite the different ethnic groups. Were was shot in his driveway while waiting for the security gate to open. Opposition supporters have called his death a political assassination.

After Were's death, groups of armed youths began gathering in two Nairobi slums after the shooting. Sabat Abdullah, a slum resident, said a gang hefting machetes dragged a doctor from the president's Kikuyu tribe from his clinic "and then cut and cut until his head was off."

Similar scenes have convulsed western Kenya, where police and soldiers in helicopters fired on crowds on Tuesday.

Were’s murder and the violent riots have caused a reaction around the world.

South Africa said it would be disastrous for the continent if the mediation fails. Western donors have urged both sides — who appear far apart — to take the talks seriously or risk losing aid.

Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential hopeful whose father was Kenyan, also spoke out against the violence.

[He] appealed for peace on Nairobi's Capital FM radio station.

"Now is the time for all parties to renounce violence. Now is the time for Kenyan leaders to rise above party affiliations and past ambitions for the sake of peace," Obama said. "Most troubling are new indications that the violence is being organized, planned and coordinated."

Sound like déjà vu? Let’s hope Hotel Kenya isn’t out in theaters next year.

For more information about the crisis, click here.