Obama Doing Diplomatic Work on Kenyan Situation Amidst Hectic Primary Schedule

The AP reports:

Between campaign stops in his bid for the White House, Democratic front-runner Barack Obama has been making calls regarding the presidential election and resulting violence in his father’s homeland of Kenya.

More than 500 people have been killed in disputes over last week’s election in which President Mwai Kibaki was re-elected. His rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga, accused Kibaki of stealing the vote and ethnic clashes ensued.

Obama has been working the phones for the past week to urge an end to the bloodletting. He spoke to Odinga for about five minutes Monday before going into a rally in Lebanon, N.H., and was trying to reach Kibaki Tuesday as New Hampshire voters went to the polls.

“What I urged was that all the leaders there, regardless of their position on the election (to) tell their supporters to stand down, to desist with the violence and resolve in a peaceful way in accordance with Kenyan law,” Obama said. He said Odinga ” gave me some encouraging signs that he would be willing to have such a meeting.”

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Kenyans have also been rooting for Obama during his primary battle. Reuters reports:

In Obama’s ancestral village of Kogelo in the west, people talked of little else.

“We are all upbeat and we are looking forward to his win very much,” Barack’s uncle Said Obama, 41, told Reuters.

“We are praying for him and we hope he goes all the way … It relieves us from the violence going on this country. At least we have something to make us happy.”

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(h/t ScarceTV)