Kenya's Odinga unexpectedly heads to Nigeria

A critical day for Kenya's peace talks hit a snag yesterday when the opposition leader unexpectedly left the country and his party said the government failed to show up on time for the latest negotiations.

Raila Odinga left Kenya on a charter flight to Nigeria, according to an airport employee and two officials of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement. Odinga was expected back today and was still available for consultations while out of the country, said opposition official Musalia Mudavadi.

He said that government negotiators did not show up on time at a luxury hotel where the two sides were trying to strike a deal to end weeks of violence stemming from President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election, which local and foreign observers say was rigged.

"There has been a delay from the other side," Mudavadi said. "So we are waiting to hear their communication."

In Nigeria, Information Minister John Odey said he was unaware of Odinga's visit, indicating that the trip's purpose wasn't likely to have been officially sanctioned by the government. The presidential spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment.

Nigeria, an African military and diplomatic powerhouse, isn't known to be involved in mediation efforts in Kenya.

On Thursday, the two sides appeared to be edging toward a deal as the government tentatively agreed to create a prime minister's post to be filled by the opposition.

SEEING THE LIGHT

Government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said a political deal was expected yesterday after weeks of international pressure on both sides to share power.

"I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel," former UN chief Kofi Annan, who has been mediating in the political negotiations, said in a statement on Thursday.

Odinga a scheduled meeting yesterday with Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission, the AU executive body. But negotiators from his party attended instead, according to an AU official who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dec. 27 election returned Kibaki to power for a second five-year term after Odinga's lead in early vote counting evaporated overnight.

BLOODSHED

The ensuing violence has stirred up ethnic grievances over land and poverty that have bedeviled Kenya since independence in 1963. More than 1,000 people have been killed.

Much the bloodshed has pitted other ethnic groups against Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, long resented for dominating politics and the economy.

On Thursday, a man was hacked to death in a Nairobi slum, police said. Witnesses said the fight started when a group of young Luos -- from the same ethnic group as Odinga -- began taunting Kikuyus.

"They started hurling insults then throwing stones at the Kikuyus, who are their neighbors," said a woman selling vegetables in the slum.

The Kikuyus then attacked, killing a Luo man, said the woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution.

MOBILIZING

A think tank said on Thursday that armed groups on opposing sides of the political and ethnic strife are mobilizing for new attacks and serious violence could erupt again if peace talks fail.

"Calm has partly returned but the situation remains highly volatile," the Brussels, Belgium-based International Crisis Group said in a report. "Armed groups are still mobilizing on both sides."

Talks Kibaki and Odinga have focused on how to create a broader-based government to end the crisis. In particular, Odinga and his backers have demanded that the president share power.

The country remains caught between a desire to move on from waves of ethnic attacks and a fear that any compromise could spark new fighting.