Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:35:08 +0000
    Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer

    Brussels, Belgium (AHN) - As violence spreads across Kenya following the proclamation of reelections President Mwai Kibaki as the poll winner amid charges of cheating, the European Union election monitor confirmed on Tuesday that the election was flawed and fell short of international standards. Specifically, the tallying process did not have credibility, said Chief European Union monitor Alexander Graf Lambsdorff.

    In a statement, the E.U. team said, "They were marked by a lack of transparency in the processing and tallying of presidential results, which raises concerns about the accuracy of the final result."

    The team pinpointed at least two areas, Molo and Kieni, where the announced results did not match the number of votes cast. The E.U. observers heard for themselves the data for Molo, but when the results were read in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city, Kibaki's votes were higher by 25,000.

    At least 4 of Kenya's 22 election commissioners have aired similar doubts about the authenticity of the election results. Commissioner Jack Tumwa told BBC, "After the announcement, when an independent observer from the EU group came and said the figures given for Molo were at variance with what we had announced, that really struck me hard... That's why we felt if that is true - and I'm also saying if that is true - then perhaps it was spread all over. But this is yet to be ascertained."

    Defeated opposition candidate Raila Odinga said he was deprived of electoral victory.

    Meanwhile, following the rise to 100 Kenyans who have died due to election-related violence, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a telephone conversation with the two presidential candidates, expressed his concern about the growing violence in the African nation over the election results. Mr. Brown asked President Kibaki and Odinga to work for unity and reconciliation.

    Because of the incidents of violence, the U.K. Foreign office issued a travel advisory to the 7,000 Britons vacationing in Kenya, mostly in Nairobi.

    British Foreign Secretary and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, in a joint statement, said, "We call on those involved, including government security forces and political party supporters, to behave responsibly, to act within the law, and to address their grievances peacefully."