Kenya police charge officer with killing protesters

Following an independent inquiry, Constable Edward Kiruiwill be charged with murder for the January 16 killings ofGeorge William Onyango and Ishmael Chacha in the western Kenyanopposition stronghold of Kisumu, police said in a statement.

The deaths were among nearly 100 killings by police duringprotests over a disputed December 27 election that returnedPresident Mwai Kibaki to power and plunged the east Africannation into a crisis that harmed its image of stability.

At least 1,000 people have been killed and 304,000 forcedto flee their homes in a combination of police clashes withopposition backers and politically-tinged ethnic killings.

Police identified Kirui from video footage of a policemanfiring his assault rifle at the two men, who had earlier beenin a group of protesters that had thrown rocks in hisdirection.

After the officer fired, he then walked up to the men,kicking one of them down as he tried to stand up. Theopposition and rights groups charged that it was an extremeexample of police brutality employed to quell the protests.

Neither Kirui nor a representative were immediatelyavailable for comment.

Police Commissioner Hussein Ali initiated an inquiry as aresult, and Kirui is due to appear in court soon.

"The commissioner of police wishes to guarantee the publicthat the force is committed to internationally acknowledgedprofessional standards of policing," a police statement said.

(For special coverage from Reuters on Kenya's crisis see:http ://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/)

(Writing by Bryson Hull, editing by Daniel Wallis andPhilippa Fletcher)