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Kenya talks make no progress

Women pray before starting a march for peace organized by a group supporting opposition leader Raila Odinga in Nairobi yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Ghanaian President John Kufuor was set yesterday to resume talks with Kenyan leaders to attempt to break the political deadlock after disputed presidential polls that touched off a wave of unrest.

Kufuor, who chairs the African Union, held several hours of separate talks with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday, but officials reported no progress.

Kufuor reportedly failed to soften the stance of the feuding leaders to end the crisis, aggravated on Tuesday by Kibaki's announcement of a partial Cabinet.

Anger over the Dec. 27 presidential election -- which Odinga alleges was rigged -- exploded into nationwide rioting, killing at least 600 people and forcing some 257,000 to flee their homes, UN estimates showed.

Despite huge international pressure, the two rivals have still not met face-to-face since Kibaki was sworn in on Dec. 30.

"The only concrete proposal that Kufuor brought to the table was the establishment of a panel of eminent persons to mediate between both sides," said Anyang Nyongo, the secretary general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), on Wednesday.

Kibaki told Kufuor that he had left some seats for the ODM in the Cabinet and reiterated his willingness to form a government of national unity with his furious rivals, an official from the presidency said.

"The opposition wants the president to recognize that there is a crisis in the country, but Kibaki refuses," he said.

Odinga claims he was robbed of victory in the Dec. 27 election, which was widely criticized for inconsistencies in the vote tallying process.

Police said late on Wednesday that stability had returned to most parts of the country, but attacks were still being reported across the nation, home to 37 million people from more than 40 tribes.

"There are some pockets where there are still attacks," national police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said, noting that six houses had been set on fire in Elburgon, in the tinderbox Rift Valley Province.

Kenyan police fired teargas at dozens of women supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga as they demonstrated and blocked a highway in a Nairobi suburb yesterday, a reporter at the scene said.

The group of around 70 women, including one carrying a young baby, dispersed after police fired tear gas and charged at them. Local police commander David Kerina said the march was illegal.

Top US envoy to Africa Jendayi Frazer, who had led diplomatic efforts in Kenya prior to Kufuor, was due to return to the talks yesterday after a visit to the Comoros.
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