Former UN chief Kofi Annan met Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Thursday for talks to end the crisis sparked by his re-election one month ago, as 12 people died in further clashes.

"They are meeting now," a presidency official told AFP, as police said eight people had been hacked to death in tribal violence near the western Kenyan town of Nakuru, raising the overnight death toll to 12.

Annan held talks on Wednesday with opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims Kibaki rigged his way to re-election after the 27 December ballot.

Over 700 dead

The former UN secretary general is the latest in a series of leaders trying to pressure the Kenyan foes to end the dispute which has set off clashes that have killed more than 700 people and displaced a quarter of a million.

The crisis has shattered the economy and threatened the stability of the east African nation.

Annan convinced Odinga during their talks to call off protest rallies scheduled for Thursday after three days of clashes with police sparked by similar banned demonstrations last week.

What started as largely political rioting has rapidly ballooned into tribal violence and looting across the country.

"Six were hacked to death in Kaptembwa and two others in Bahati," two settlements near the town of Nakuru, northwest of Nairobi, a police commander told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Police shot dead two men in the central Kenya town of Limuru when members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe started evicting residents from rival tribes from their homes, a police commander said.

Rival tribal gangs

In the Nairobi slum of Kariobangi, a man was hacked to death in overnight fighting between rival tribal gangs.

"One tribe is evicting the other from houses, but police are moving to end the problem," the police official told AFP.

Another was killed in the western area of Molo, where tribal violence has raged over the past few days, dozens of houses have been burnt and hundreds have fled.

Global charity ActionAid and Kenya's Roman Catholic Church pressed for an end to the country's ethnic clashes, and urged its feuding political leaders to start dialogue.

"Politicians should commit to stop exploiting tribal divisions to build their power," said a statement from ActionAid, which runs numerous programmes across the country.

It was "disturbed by the ethnic dimension that has characterised much of the violence," the statement said.

The Roman Catholic Church appealed to the leaders to stop the fighting.

"No more arrogance, no more incitement of an open and hidden nature," pleaded Cardinal John Njue in a statement signed by all of Kenya's Catholic bishops.

"We ask President Mwai Kibaki and Honourable Raila Odinga to open their minds and hearts and immediately enter into dialogue."

Face-to-face talks urgently needed

Annan, along with other African leaders, is in Nairobi in the latest attempt to mediate the turmoil after the failure so far to bring the two sides to talk face-to-face.

Kibaki met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday, one of the first heads of state to congratulate him on his re-election.

A spokesperson for Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement meanwhile described as "very constructive" the dialogue on Wednesday between the opposition leader and Annan.

"It is going to be very tough negotiations, but we are determined to do everything to make it (reaching an agreement) happen since the future of this country is at stake," the ODM's Salim Lone said.

Riot police on Wednesday fired bullets in the air and tear gas at an opposition funeral procession, sparking running battles and resulting in the razing of a telecommunications exchange centre.

Odinga, who fled the scene after the latest disturbance in the Kenyan capital, said the government had gone too far by assaulting mourners.

This "government first committed the unforgivable crime of stealing the vote, it then kills those who protest, and finally, when people come to mourn the departed, it assaults them as well," Odinga said in a statement.

Before his first talks with Kenya's feuding factions, Annan said he had no miracle answer to end the stalemate.

AFP

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