Cable Viewer

Currently released so far... 5566 / 251,287

### Articles

Brazil Sri Lanka United Kingdom Sweden Editorial United States Latin America Egypt Yemen Jordan

### Browse latest releases

2010/11 2010/12 2011/01 2011/02 2011/03
2010/11/28 2010/11/29 2010/11/30
2010/12/01 2010/12/02 2010/12/03 2010/12/04 2010/12/05 2010/12/06 2010/12/07 2010/12/08 2010/12/09 2010/12/10 2010/12/11 2010/12/12 2010/12/13 2010/12/14 2010/12/15 2010/12/16 2010/12/17 2010/12/18 2010/12/19 2010/12/20 2010/12/21 2010/12/22 2010/12/23 2010/12/24 2010/12/25 2010/12/26 2010/12/27 2010/12/28 2010/12/29 2010/12/30
2011/01/01 2011/01/02 2011/01/04 2011/01/05 2011/01/07 2011/01/09 2011/01/10 2011/01/11 2011/01/12 2011/01/13 2011/01/14 2011/01/15 2011/01/16 2011/01/17 2011/01/18 2011/01/19 2011/01/20 2011/01/21 2011/01/22 2011/01/23 2011/01/24 2011/01/25 2011/01/26 2011/01/27 2011/01/28 2011/01/29 2011/01/30 2011/01/31
2011/02/01 2011/02/02 2011/02/03 2011/02/04 2011/02/05 2011/02/06 2011/02/07 2011/02/08 2011/02/09 2011/02/10 2011/02/11 2011/02/12 2011/02/13 2011/02/14 2011/02/15 2011/02/16 2011/02/17 2011/02/18 2011/02/19 2011/02/20 2011/02/21 2011/02/22 2011/02/23 2011/02/24 2011/02/25 2011/02/26 2011/02/27 2011/02/28
2011/03/01 2011/03/02 2011/03/03 2011/03/04 2011/03/05 2011/03/06 2011/03/07 2011/03/08 2011/03/09 2011/03/10 2011/03/11 2011/03/13 2011/03/14 2011/03/15

### Browse by creation date

66 72 73 75 79 86 88 89 90 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1966/12
1972/02 1972/08
1973/04
1975/03
1979/08
1986/05
1988/01
1989/12
1990/01 1990/07 1990/08 1990/10
2000/06 2000/09 2000/11
2001/02 2001/03 2001/07 2001/10
2002/02 2002/03 2002/11
2003/03 2003/04 2003/05 2003/06 2003/07 2003/08 2003/09 2003/10 2003/11 2003/12
2004/01 2004/02 2004/03 2004/04 2004/05 2004/06 2004/07 2004/08 2004/09 2004/10 2004/11 2004/12
2005/01 2005/02 2005/03 2005/04 2005/05 2005/06 2005/07 2005/08 2005/09 2005/10 2005/11 2005/12
2006/01 2006/02 2006/03 2006/04 2006/05 2006/06 2006/07 2006/08 2006/09 2006/10 2006/11 2006/12
2007/01 2007/02 2007/03 2007/04 2007/05 2007/06 2007/07 2007/08 2007/09 2007/10 2007/11 2007/12
2008/01 2008/02 2008/03 2008/04 2008/05 2008/06 2008/07 2008/08 2008/09 2008/10 2008/11 2008/12
2009/01 2009/02 2009/03 2009/04 2009/05 2009/06 2009/07 2009/08 2009/09 2009/10 2009/11 2009/12
2010/01 2010/02

### Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Embassy Athens Embassy Asuncion Embassy Astana Embassy Asmara Embassy Ashgabat Embassy Ankara Embassy Amman Embassy Algiers Embassy Addis Ababa Embassy Accra Embassy Abuja Embassy Abu Dhabi Embassy Abidjan Consulate Amsterdam American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura Embassy Buenos Aires Embassy Budapest Embassy Bucharest Embassy Brussels Embassy Bridgetown Embassy Bratislava Embassy Brasilia Embassy Bogota Embassy Bishkek Embassy Bern Embassy Berlin Embassy Belgrade Embassy Beirut Embassy Beijing Embassy Banjul Embassy Bangkok Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan Embassy Bamako Embassy Baku Embassy Baghdad Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen Embassy Conakry Embassy Colombo Embassy Chisinau Embassy Caracas Embassy Canberra Embassy Cairo Consulate Curacao Consulate Casablanca Consulate Cape Town
Embassy Dushanbe Embassy Dublin Embassy Doha Embassy Djibouti Embassy Dhaka Embassy Dar Es Salaam Embassy Damascus Embassy Dakar Consulate Dubai
Embassy Freetown
Embassy Guatemala Embassy Gaborone Consulate Guadalajara
Embassy Helsinki Embassy Harare Embassy Hanoi Consulate Hermosillo Consulate Hamburg
Iran RPO Dubai Embassy Islamabad Consulate Istanbul
Embassy Jakarta Consulate Jerusalem Consulate Jeddah
Embassy Kyiv Embassy Kuwait Embassy Kuala Lumpur Embassy Kinshasa Embassy Kigali Embassy Khartoum Embassy Kathmandu Embassy Kampala Embassy Kabul
Embassy Luxembourg Embassy Luanda Embassy London Embassy Ljubljana Embassy Lisbon Embassy Lima Embassy Lilongwe Embassy La Paz Consulate Lagos
Mission USNATO Embassy Muscat Embassy Moscow Embassy Montevideo Embassy Monrovia Embassy Minsk Embassy Mexico Embassy Mbabane Embassy Maputo Embassy Manama Embassy Managua Embassy Malabo Embassy Madrid Consulate Munich Consulate Montreal Consulate Monterrey Consulate Milan
Embassy New Delhi Embassy Nassau Embassy Nairobi Consulate Naples
Embassy Ouagadougou Embassy Ottawa Embassy Oslo
Embassy Pristina Embassy Pretoria Embassy Prague Embassy Port Au Prince Embassy Phnom Penh Embassy Paris Embassy Paramaribo Embassy Panama Consulate Peshawar
Embassy Quito
REO Basrah Embassy Rome Embassy Riyadh Embassy Riga Embassy Reykjavik Embassy Rangoon Embassy Rabat Consulate Rio De Janeiro Consulate Recife
Secretary of State Embassy Stockholm Embassy Sofia Embassy Skopje Embassy Singapore Embassy Seoul Embassy Sarajevo Embassy Santo Domingo Embassy Santiago Embassy Sanaa Embassy San Salvador Embassy San Jose Consulate Strasbourg Consulate Shenyang Consulate Shanghai Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis Embassy Tripoli Embassy Tokyo Embassy The Hague Embassy Tel Aviv Embassy Tehran Embassy Tegucigalpa Embassy Tbilisi Embassy Tashkent Embassy Tallinn
USUN New York USEU Brussels US Mission Geneva US Interests Section Havana US Delegation, Secretary UNVIE Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Embassy Vilnius Embassy Vienna Embassy Vatican Consulate Vladivostok
Embassy Windhoek Embassy Wellington Embassy Warsaw
Embassy Yerevan Embassy Yaounde
Embassy Zagreb

### Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
AF AJ AU AG AE ASEC AS AM AR AMGT AORC AFIN APER ABUD ATRN AL AEMR ACOA AO AX AMED ADCO AODE AFFAIRS AC ASIG ABLD AA AFU ASUP AROC ATFN AVERY APCS AER ASECKFRDCVISKIRFPHUMSMIGEG AEC APECO AGMT
BE BR BA BL BEXP BTIO BM BK BRUSSELS BX BU BO BH BIDEN BY BG BF BB BC BBSR BMGT BTIU BILAT
CH CA CD CV CVIS CMGT CO CI CU CASC CBW CLINTON CE CJAN CIA CG CF CN CS CAN COUNTER CDG CIS CM CONDOLEEZZA COE CR CY CTM COUNTRY CLEARANCE CPAS CWC CT CKGR CB CACS COM CJUS CARSON CL CODEL COUNTERTERRORISM CACM CDB
DR DA DHS DOE DEA DK DJ DISENGAGEMENT DS DTRA DOD DEAX
ECON EFIN ELAB EU ETRD ENRG EPET EG EAGR EAID ETTC EINV EIND EUN EAIR ER ECIN ECPS EFIS EI EINT EZ EMIN ET EC ETC ECONEFIN ENVR ES ECA ELN EN EFTA EWWT ELTN EXTERNAL EINVETC ENIV EINN ENGR EUR ESA ENERG EK ENGY ETRO ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS ETRDEINVTINTCS ESENV ENVI ELECTIONS ECUN EINVEFIN ECIP EINDETRD EUC EREL
FR FINR FAO FTAA FREEDOM FI FARC FBI FJ FMLN
GA GG GM GV GH GE GT GR GTIP GOI GCC GAZA GZ GANGS GTMO
HU HR HILLARY HA HUMAN HO HYMPSK HURI HK HSTC
IR IS IZ INTERPOL IPR IN IT INRB IAEA IRAJ INRA INRO IO IC ID IIP ILC ITPHUM IV IWC IQ ICTY ISRAELI IRAQI ICRC ICAO IMO IF IEFIN INTELSAT IL IA IBRD IMF INR IRC ITALY ITALIAN
JO JA JOSEPH JP JOHNNIE JUS JAMES
KCOR KN KS KDEM KNNP KSPR KPAL KJUS KFRD KCRM KTIP KZ KPAO KTFN KIPR KPKO KSCA KISL KNUC KMDR KGHG KPLS KE KOLY KWBG KUNR KDRG KAWK KIRF KIRC KU KBIO KHLS KG KACT KGIC KRAD KCOM KMCA KV KHDP KVPR KDEV KWMN KMPI KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KOMC KTLA KCFC KTIA KHIV KPRP KAWC KCIP KCFE KOCI KTDB KMRS KLIG KBCT KICC KGIT KSTC KPAK KNEI KSEP KPOA KFLU KNUP KNNPMNUC KO KTER KSUM KHUM KRFD KBTR KDDG KWWMN KFLO KSAF KBTS KPRV KNPP KNAR KWMM KERG KFIN KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KTBT KCRS KRVC KSTH KREL KNSD KTEX KPAI KHSA KWAC KR KPWR KMIG KSEC KIFR KDEMAF KGCC KPIN
LE LH LY LU LG LI LO LOG LT
MARR MO MOPS MASS MNUC ML MR MZ MCAP MPOS MOPPS MTCRE MX MTCR MAPP MU MY MA MG MASC MCC MEPP MK MTRE MP MIL MDC MAR MEPI MRCRE MI MT MQADHAFI MD MAPS MUCN MASSMNUC MERCOSUR MC
NG NATO NL NI NU NIPP NO NPT NRR NE NS NAR NZ NPG NK NSG NA NT NASA NGO NP NSF NATIONAL
ODIP OIIP OREP OVIP OEXC OPRC OFDP OPDC OECD OTRA OSCE OAS OPIC OPCW OSCI OIE OIC OTR OVP OFFICIALS OSAC
PREL PGOV PTER PINR PSOE PHUM PBTS PARM PK PREF PINS PL PHSA PE PKFK PO PGOF PROP PA PARMS PUNE PORG PM PMIL PTERE POL PF PALESTINIAN PY PGGV PNR POV PAK PAO PFOR PHALANAGE PARTY PRGOV PNAT PROV PEL PINF PGOVE POLINT PRL PRAM PMAR PGOVLO PHUMBA PHUS PHUMPREL PG POLITICS PEPR PSI PINT PU POLITICAL PARTIES PBIO PECON POGOV PINL
QA
RW RS RU RP RO RIGHTS RICE ROBERT RF RFE REGION
SP SOCI SENV SNAR SL SW SY SG SU SA SMIG SCUL SO SF SR SZ SN SHUM SYR ST SANC SC SAN SIPRS SK SH SI SNARCS STEINBERG
TU TS TBIO TH TX TRGY TSPA TC TI TIP TR TT TW TERRORISM TO TFIN TD TSPL TZ TPHY TK TNGD TINT TRSY TP
UV US UK UP UN UNSC UNGA USEU UG USUN UY UZ UNO UNMIK UNESCO UNHRC UE UAE UNEP USTR UNHCR UNDP USAID UNCHS UNAUS UNCHC
VT VE VZ VM VTPREL VN
WTRO WA WI WZ WMO WTRQ WHO WWARD WB WBG WEU WHA WTO
XA XF XT XM XY XG XC XH XK XL XZ XW XR XD XE XS
YM YI YE
ZB ZI ZP ZK ZF ZANU ZOELLICK ZR ZU ZA ZO ZJ

### Browse by classification

CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN SECRET SECRET//NOFORN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

### Community resources

Follow us on Twitter Check our Reddit Twitter this Digg this page Contact us on IRC

courage is contagious

### Viewing cable 06NAIROBI1114, AN UNSETTLED KENYA AWAITS NEXT SHOE TO DROP

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:

- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06NAIROBI1114.

Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
06NAIROBI1114 | 2006-03-10 12:12 | 2011-02-27 23:11 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Nairobi
Appears in these articles: http://www.the-star.co.ke/

`

    VZCZCXRO5212
    OO RUEHROV
    DE RUEHNR #1114/01 0691248
    ZNY SSSSS ZZH
    O 101248Z MAR 06
    FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0207
    INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
    RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1899
    RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1878
    RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
    RHMFISS/CJTF HOA  PRIORITY
    RUEHNA/DEA HQS WASHDC PRIORITY
    RUCNFB/FBI WASH DC PRIORITY

` `

    S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 001114

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS
    NOFORN

    E.O. 12958: DECL: (X1)
    TAGS: PINS SNAR ASEC ECON PREL KCOR KDEM KE
    SUBJECT: AN UNSETTLED KENYA AWAITS NEXT SHOE TO DROP

    REF: A. NAIROBI 1077

         ¶B. NAIROBI 988 NAIROBI 974
         ¶C. NAIROBI 945

    Classified By: PolCouns Michael J. Fitzpatrick; Reasons: 1.4(b,c,d)

    ¶1. (S)  SUMMARY: President Kibaki publicly stands firm behind
    the Kenyan Police raid on the Standard Media Group.
    Meanwhile, Standard journalists and others privately say the
    raids were prompted by a State House belief that the paper
    possesses documents implicating the President's family in
    grand-scale corruption, possibly including narcotics
    trafficking.  First Lady Lucy Kibaki has reportedly
    personally threatened to "burn down the Standard" unless the
    information on her is relinquished. Even as the government
    ridicules claims of "foreign mercenaries" in the country,
    political opponents and journalists believe unofficial Second
    Wife Mary Wambui is behind the foreigners -- and the cocaine
    trafficking. Opposition leaders say they are being
    blackmailed to keep quiet; shocked by the steps already
    taken, they privately fear a cornered government will move to
    arrest them, with or without charges. And they worry about
    the possible use of lethal force.  END SUMMARY.

    UNDER SEIGE, STATE HOUSE STANDS BY ITS MAN
    ==========================================
    ¶2. (C) After a week of silence, President Kibaki has spoken
    -- he will not sack any ministers or others implicated in the
    March 2 police raids on the Standard Media Group (reftels).
    Appearing in Eldoret March 8, the President bluntly declared
    that even if the public "hates" the Security Minister, there
    is nothing they can do about it -- John Michuki will stay at
    his post.  Notably, Kibaki made the statement in the company
    of three individuals known to be at war with each other over
    how to respond to the crisis -- First Lady Lucy Kibaki (who
    supports Michuki), Policy Adviser Stanley Murage (allied with
    "unofficial" Second Lady Mary Wambui, he is long opposed to
    both Michuki and Lucy's influence) and Police Commissioner
    Ali (incensed at having been cut out of Michuki's order for
    the police raid on the media house).

    FOREIGN "MERCENARIES" CONFIRMED
    ===============================
    ¶3. (S/NF) The presence in Kenya of armed foreigners working
    on behalf of ruling elements has alarmed many Kenyans, both
    in and out of government.  Despite repeated government
    denials, post believes foreigners were indeed directly
    involved in the police raids.  One journalist who escaped the
    raids privately tells us police contacts warned him weeks
    earlier that foreigners had been imported to protect the
    First Family from public corruption charges.  One of those
    arrested told PolCouns several of the March 2 raiders were
    white -- and "no African would call us what he did."  Another
    Standard journalist says a source close to State House has
    offered to sell the paper copies of the passport pages and
    work permits of the foreigners.  (Popularly called "Russians"
    and "mercenaries," post has separately confirmed the
    foreigners are traveling on a variety of passports from what
    used to be termed "East Bloc" nations.)

    ¶4. (S) Opposition and media figures believe the "mercenaries"
    were imported to suppress information on State House
    corruption.  They assert the foreigners arrived last December
    -- after the government got word that John Githongo, the
    government's exiled corruption czar, was to go public with
    his detailed accounts of State House corruption. (Githongo's
    '"dossier" was serialized in The Nation newspaper in
    January.)  Some believe these same foreigners played a role
    (via the Akasha crime family) in the 2004 cocaine shipments
    seized in Kenya, and have now returned to intimidate
    opponents (in or out of government) from releasing
    information incriminating State House in any illicit
    activities.  Philip Murgor, sacked in 2005 as Director of
    Public Prosecutions for investigating the cocaine, told
    PolCouns March 9 the mercenaries were brought into Kenya at
    the direction of Second Lady Mary Wambui, State House Advisor
    Stanley Murage and Police CID Chief Joseph Kamau (who
    formally was in charge of the police raids on the Standard).
    Wambui, it is alleged, brought them back to Kenya after a
    December trip to Dubai in the company of none other than
    Kamlesh Pattni -- the man behind the Moi-era Goldenberg
    corruption scandal.  (Others separately told D/PolCouns this
    week that Wambui spent USD 600,000 cash during a December
    trip to Dubai.)

    NAIROBI 00001114  002 OF 003

    ¶5. (C)  The mercenaries initially stayed at the Pattni-owned
    Grand Regency Hotel -- until the media reported that fact.
    (NOTE:  Even before the raid, Murgor told PolCouns Pattni had
    wired the Presidential Suite at the Grand Regency for sound
    and audio; Wambui and CID Chief Kamau were said to be among
    those using the suite to entertain any number of Kenyan
    business and political figures.  END NOTE.) Focus then
    shifted to a house in the upscale Runda neighborhood (where a
    number of Embassy families reside) -- until opposition LDP
    leader Raila Odinga March 8 provided the Police Commissioner,
    and then the media, with the address.

    ¶6. (C) Coincidentally, Emboffs stumbled upon the house on
    Glory Road hours before Odinga even gave his police
    statement.  A number of civilians were beating a man and had
    set a dog upon him; he escaped as neighbors went to his aid.
    Confronted by the angry crowd, one attacker drew a pistol and
    identified himself as police.  Privately, neighbors said a
    white foreigner moved in several months ago -- accompanied by
    several black (but likely non-Kenyan) "bodyguards" who
    threatened them.  Neighbors said they had speculated that
    narcotics or other illicit activities were being conducted
    from the house. The next day, however, CID Chief Kamau
    publicly claimed the house had been vacant for many months.
    In conversation with PolCouns March 9, Presidential advisor
    Murage laughed at any claims of foreign involvement, claiming
    Odinga "is an expert in guerrilla warfare; you can expect him
    to claim the unbelievable."

    IT'S THE FIRST FAMILY(IES), STUPID
    ==================================
    ¶7. (S)  A Standard journalist told PolCouns March 10 the
    raids occurred because State House believed he was going to
    expose the First Family.  (NOTE:  This journalist has written
    the most detailed and damaging of published reports related
    to the December 2004 seizures of more than one ton of
    cocaine.  END NOTE.)  His reasons:  First, though he had
    nothing to do with the article that officially prompted the
    raid (suggesting a secret Presidential deal with an
    opposition leader), he was publicly sought for arrest.
    (Having secured a police bond against arrest, he has since
    submitted a statement that he neither researched nor wrote
    nor edited the article.)  Second, those colleagues that were
    arrested privately state that police officers told them they
    were looking for papers implicating both/both presidential
    wives in corruption:  Official First Lady Lucy in the
    Anglo-Leasing scandal and Unofficial Wife Two Mary Wambui in
    cocaine shipments.  One police officer, a longtime friend of
    the paper's editors, confided that "this dossier is explosive
    and can bring down the government" -- which they had been
    instructed not to allow.  (One of those arrested separately
    confirmed this to PolCouns.)

    ¶8. (S) Third, Four CID officers tracked down the journalist's
    uncle (a senior civil servant) on Sunday, March 5.  He was
    told First Lady Lucy knew the nephew had "a dossier" on her
    -- and she wanted it.  To underscore their seriousness, the
    police put the First Lady on the phone; she told the uncle
    that unless the Standard turned over the dossier they would
    "burn down the whole of the Standard Group."  Fourth,
    Standard editor Oketch Kendo was intercepted March 8 at a
    city supermarket and told that the journalist had one week
    (until Wednesday, March 15) to turn over the dossier.  Fifth,
    the journalist uncle spoke to the First Lady again March 9;
    she reiterated the same deadline.

    ¶9. (S) The journalist claims he does not to know what to do
    -- as he says he has no such dossier. (He believes that
    Alfred Getonga -- recently sacked as Personal Assistant to
    the President  -- left State House angry, and with a sheaf of
    incriminating documents.  He all but stated that Getonga had
    offered him documents, but that they were unable to agree on
    a date to meet before the raid occurred on the Standard.)
    He says he fears for his life. Standard management was to
    meet March 10 to decide whether to send the journalist abroad
    "until things cool down."  He nonetheless continues to work
    on his next story: trying to confirm that another ship
    bearing a load of cocaine is to dock in coming days at
    Mombasa.  (COMMENT: Neither we nor the journalist can confirm
    Wambui's involvement in narcotics; it's just as likely that
    others are throwing her name about to protect their own
    activities.  END COMMENT.)

    OPPOSITION GIVEN THE CHOICE: SHUT UP OR ELSE
    ============================================

    NAIROBI 00001114  003 OF 003

    ¶10. (S) Threats of arrest and violence are also being
    personally directed at opposition leaders by the government.
    Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) opposition leaders privately
    confirm that they have been told by State House and police
    officials to stop rabble-rousing on the issues of high-level
    government corruption and cocaine trafficking.  Furthermore,
    "We are all being blackmailed" to keep quiet, conceded one
    presidential aspirant -- who then ticked off the bases for
    government threats of criminal actions against each of the
    major opposition figures, including himself.  The threats, he
    said, have been face-to-face and blunt: they could be
    arrested either with or without charges.  Coming straight
    from a meeting of ODM leaders, he claimed their general
    response has been "We obviously can't stop you. So go ahead."
     PolCouns urged that he and fellow opposition leaders remain
    civil and pacific, and to give no one a public excuse for
    further repression.  He agreed while readily admitting, "you
    know how hard it is for us politicians to keep our mouths
    shut."  He thanked the USG for its rapid and direct
    denunciation of the raids, saying it not only forced many
    observers off the fence but made clear the stakes at risk.

    COMMENT
    =======
    ¶11. (S) COMMENT: While Kenya appears outwardly calm, many of
    those closest to the political action are now scared. The
    raids on the media stunned many Kenyans, who say they never
    expected such a step by their post-Moi, democratic
    government.  Reports of foreign mercenaries, systematic
    threats and blackmail, and possible narco-corruption at State
    House now have them positively reeling.  They now fear what
    may come next.
    BELLAMY

`