Kenya parties seek to end conflict

Kenya's government and opposition begin detailed negotiations on Tuesday to try to end political and tribal conflict that has killed at least 900 people and brought one of Africa's brightest economies to its knees.

Under the mediation of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the two sides agreed on Monday on immediate steps to help the hundreds of thousands displaced by the violence and said they would now start work on the political impasse.

"(On Tuesday) we begin our work on the political issues, the crisis arising out of the December 2007 elections. That is going to take hard negotiations, understandably give and take," Annan told a news conference late on Monday.

"At the end of the day I hope we will have proved that institutions are more important than any individual. We need strong institutions, strong democratic foundations, and I hope we will be able to give you that," he said.

The crisis in Kenya was triggered by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election on December 27. Opposition leader Raila Odinga says he stole the vote. International observers said the count was so chaotic it was impossible to tell who won.

What started as an electoral dispute has uncorked decades-old divisions between tribal groups over land, wealth and power, dating from British colonial rule and stoked by Kenyan politicians during 44 years of independence.

About 300,000 people have been displaced over the past month as rival communities fought in towns and villages around the country and protesters clashed with security forces firing tear gas and live rounds.

"GREAT TRAGEDY"

In Washington, White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Monday resolving the standoff in Kenya had a "long way to go" but negotiations between the government and opposition were a start.

U.S. diplomatic efforts were also under way to "put pressure on (Kibaki and Odinga) to recognise what their dispute is doing" to Kenya and to agree to stabilise the situation, said Hadley.

"It is a great tragedy. This is a country that we have all looked to as a model. It has fallen on hard times," he said.

Annan's mediation team has given Kenya's feuding politicians 15 days to resolve the immediate political dispute but has said that the deeper ethnic divisions and inequalities unmasked by the crisis will take much longer to mend.

More than 200 Kenyan business leaders meet in Nairobi on Tuesday to discuss how they can help Annan's mediation.

The crisis has battered Kenya's once vibrant tourism industry, threatened its position as the leading exporter of cut flowers to Europe, and blocked road and rail trade routes vital to its landlocked neighbours.