UK pledges £1m in aid for Kenya

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The UK is to give £1m in aid to Kenya, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander has said.

The money will be given to the Kenyan Red Cross for emergency humanitarian work after post-election violence flared across the country.

It will help provide food, shelter and clean water for as many as 500,000 displaced Kenyans.

Meanwhile Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has accused Gordon Brown of a "monumental failure of leadership" on the crisis.

Announcing the aid, Mr Alexander said: "It is the poorest and most vulnerable people who are suffering from the political unrest.

Humanitarian relief

He added: "They are the very people our aid programme is intended to help.

"That is why I am announcing £1m of immediate humanitarian relief to support the work of the Kenyan Red Cross.

Gordon Brown is demonstrating a monumental failure of leadership as Kenya slides further into chaos by the hour Nick CleggLiberal Democrats <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/africa/7167461.stm">PM backs Kenya peace drive</a>

"This money will ensure that families who have been forced to leave their homes are able to access shelter, food and water and other basic services."

He urged Kenya's political leaders to bring the crisis to an end by "entering into dialogue" and to achieve a "democratic process".

The UK's contribution is a response to a Kenyan Red Cross appeal for £2.8m to address the needs of those displaced by the post-election violence.

Hundreds killed

Violence flared after Mwai Kibaki was officially re-elected as Kenya's president in a poll that opposition leader Raila Odinga claims was rigged.

All of the UK's major tour operators have suspended flights to Kenya, where more than 300 people have been killed and at least 70,000 driven from their homes.

On Wednesday Mr Brown pledged to do everything in his power to support the African Union's efforts to undertake a reconciliation mission to Kenya.

But Mr Clegg said the prime minister had not done enough and should be demanding votes are recounted within two weeks.

"Gordon Brown is demonstrating a monumental failure of leadership as Kenya slides further into chaos by the hour," he said.

"In the face of hundreds of deaths and escalating ethnic violence, Brown has nothing more to say than that the two rival candidates should talk to each other.

"That is self evidently not going to take place in the current circumstances."

Mr Clegg said Britain should refuse to recognise either Mr Kibaki or Mr Odinga until a recount takes place and Kenya should be suspended from the Commonwealth and sanctions imposed on the ruling party in the meantime.

But on Wednesday Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC he had to consider that sanctions could hit ordinary Kenyans.