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Kenyan minister George Saitoti killed in helicopter crash | Kenyan minister George Saitoti killed in helicopter crash |
(40 minutes later) | |
Kenyan Internal Security Minister George Saitoti has been killed in a helicopter crash, officials say. | Kenyan Internal Security Minister George Saitoti has been killed in a helicopter crash, officials say. |
They say Mr Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, died when the aircraft went down west of Nairobi, bursting into flames as it hit the ground. | |
There is no word on the cause of the crash, in which at least six people were killed. | |
Mr Saitoti, a former vice-president, had been planning to run in a forthcoming presidential poll. | |
The 66-year-old was on his way to a security meeting when his helicopter crashed on Sunday morning. | |
A former senior member of the long-dominant Kanu party, Mr Saitoti joined Mr Kibaki's National Alliance of Kenya in 2002. | |
He was a leading government voice against the Somali militant group al-Shabab. | |
Kenyan troops have been fighting al-Shabab since last October. The militants have killed several people in a string of grenade attacks in various parts of Kenyan, including Nairobi. | |
No date for the presidential election has so far been set. Mr Kibaki's mandate ends in January 2013. | |
Prime Minister Raila Odinga - a rival of both Mr Kibaki and Mr Saitoti - has also announced he was standing for president. | |
The last presidential election, in December 2007, was followed by a wave of ethnic and political violence in which about 1,500 were killed. | |
Mr Odinga has warned about the emergence of ethnically-based political groups in the run-up to the next poll. |