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 UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Kofi Annan used all his negotiating skills to work out a power-sharing deal over Kenya's contested presidential election. If the former U.N. secretary-general hadn't stepped in, African Union and U.N. officials acknowledge, they wouldn't have known what to do next.
A spokesman for the top opposition leader, Raila Odinga, told The Associated Press the lack of a U.N. backup plan highlights a need to give nations more and earlier election assistance.
"The United Nations should recognize that elections in countries such as ours are always flash points of potential violence," said opposition spokesman Salim Lone, a former U.N. official. "Often the rigging begins well before election day, and to show up just before polling starts is quite inadequate."
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