OLD RIVALRIES

While the initial focus of protests was the tallying of the presidential vote, which local and foreign observers said was flawed, rivalries over land, business and power dating back to the beginning of independence have now come to the fore.

Analysts say colonial Britain's divide-and-rule policies among different communities created wounds that have festered since, and have been routinely exploited by politicians to muster support at election time.

Attacks in the immediate aftermath of Kibaki's win were mainly against his Kikuyu tribe - the largest and richest in Kenya - but members of that group, including the outlawed Mungiki gang, have begun fighting back, Kenyans say.

In Naivasha, a 1,000-strong group of mainly Kikuyus brandishing axes, sticks, machetes and hammers faced off with several hundred Luos - some of whom were also armed - asking to be allowed to leave the town, a Reuters witness said.

Dozens of riot police kept the two groups apart as they faced off right outside the Lake Naivasha Country Club, near the town's famous lake, usually a popular tourist attraction.

"We want these Luos to go back home. They chased and killed our people. Now we want the same thing to happen to them," said Kikuyu protester Joseph Maina, holding a plank of wood.

Reuters verified 19 deaths in Naivasha on Sunday.

A correspondent in the town heard screams into the night. Some locals were burning piles of furniture on the street.

Echoing earlier scenes in the Rift Valley when Kikuyus were targeted, mobs stopped cars on the main highway and demanded passengers' identity cards. One man was beaten before being kicked under the wheels of a minibus as it sped to safety.

Negotiators led by Annan have told the rival camps of Kibaki, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, to select four representatives each and study a blueprint for further talks in the next 24 hours, an official involved in the mediation said.

Government officials and watchdog Human Rights Watch accuse opposition leaders of organising attacks against Kikuyus in the Rift. The opposition has retorted that criminal gangs have been dispatched against their supporters.

Police said 254 arrests had been made overnight.

Annan visited trouble-spots over the weekend and said the crisis in Kenya had gone well beyond an electoral dispute.