Kenyan military plane crashes, 14 dead

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A military plane carrying politicians to a peace conference crashed while attempting to land in northern Kenya during bad weather Monday, killing at least 14 people, including two assistant Cabinet ministers.\nPresident Mwai Kibaki declared three days of national mourning.\nFour of the 17 people on the plane were pulled from the fiery wreckage alive and flown to Nairobi for treatment, witnesses said. One survivor died on the way.\nThe plane crashed into a hill near Marsabit, 280 miles northeast of Nairobi. The politicians on board were heading to a conference intended to ease tribal tensions along the Ethiopian border, Parliamentary Speaker Francis ole Kaparo told a news conference.\n"This is the worst tragedy to hit the National Assembly," Kaparo said with tears in his eyes. "We have lost a lot of very good people in this crash."\nHe said Minister for Youth Affairs Mohammed Kuti was among the dead, but Minister for Foreign Affairs Raphael Tuju and government spokesman Alfred Mutua insisted that Kuti was not on the plane.\nBoth men said the other victims included assistant minister for internal security Mirugi Kariuki; assistant minister for regional development authorities Titus Ngoyoni; and the deputy leader of the opposition KANU party Bonaya Godana.\nAnother passenger was Abdullahi Adan, a Kenyan member of the East African Legislative Assembly and a retired army general under former President Daniel arap Moi, Kaparo added. The East African Legislative Assembly includes lawmakers from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.\nKaparo said he would adjourn parliament Tuesday until the dead lawmakers were buried.\nKibaki issued a statement expressing "shock and concern" regarding the crash.\n"It is unfortunate that this tragedy occurred while the peace delegation was on its way to a crucial meeting to bring peace and harmony to the communities," Kibaki said.\nThe Ministry of Defense said in a statement that 17 people, including crew members, were on the Chinese-built, Y-12 twin-engine cargo plane when it crashed.\n"Initial investigative reports of the Marsabit air crash indicate that the Y-12 military airplane may have crashed due to poor visibility caused by bad weather," Mutua said in a statement.\nPolice also said the crash appeared to be an accident.\nGodana was among the most prominent of the lawmakers. He was a former Cabinet minister who served as foreign affairs and agriculture minister in Moi's administration between 1997 and 2002.