MOMBASA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Bodies may have been moved from
mass graves in Kenya to prevent an investigation into a
suspected slaughter of villagers during inter-tribal unrest in
the Tana River region, police said.
The suspected graves were found on Monday in Kilelengwani
village, the focus of fighting in the coastal area that has
killed more than 100 people in the past three weeks, including
nine police officers.
The scale of the unrest has left many Kenyans convinced it
was politically instigated and has raised fears of serious
tribal fighting before elections due in March.
The Kenya Red Cross said at least 20 people believed to have
been killed were still unaccounted for, and they suspected their
bodies had been buried in the graves.
Regional police chief Aggrey Adoli said only a human foot
and human skin had been found after two hours of digging,
however.
"The whole place appeared freshly dug and was exuding the
stench of rotten flesh ... we all were surprised when nothing
was found. Those who removed the bodies must have been striving
to hide some evidence," he said by telephone late on Thursday.
"It is possible that the graves might have been tampered
with and bodies removed before police arrived at the scene to
seal it off," Adoli said.
Raiders shot, hacked and burnt to death 38 people last week
in Kilelengwani and 20 people have been arrested and charged
with murder over the killings. Those arrested include members of
both rival tribes involved in clashes, the Pokomo and Orma.
Local human rights groups have blamed the violence on
incitement by politicians seeking to drive away elements of the
local population they believe will vote for their opponents.
President Mwai Kibaki imposed a curfew last week and sent
extra security forces to the area to try to end the violence,
intensified by an influx of weapons in the last few years.
Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma tribesmen have
clashed for years over access to grazing, farmland and water in
the coastal region. Dams along the Tana River, Kenya's longest,
supply about two thirds of the east African state's electricity.
(Editing by James Macharia and Pravin Char)
