Kenyan leaders resumed power-sharing talks on Monday in a bid to end the post-election political crisis in the east African state, which sparked communal violence and left more than 1500 people dead.

Chief mediator and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan adjourned the talks on Friday and urged President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to give their negotiators clear instructions on the way forward.

The negotiations on a power-sharing deal have stuttered on the creation and powers of a would-be prime minister, a position that currently does not exist.

"The talks have begun, both parties are sitting and talking," Nasser Ega-Musa, a United Nations spokesperson, told AFP.

Kenya, a nation of 37-million people, has been mired in one of its worst crises since gaining independence in 1963 after Kibaki's disputed 27 December re-election.

Police said on Monday that more than 1500 people died in weeks of violence that erupted on 30 December when Kibaki was sworn in for a second term in office.

Previously the death toll stood at least 1000, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society.

"Our figures indicate that more than 1500 have been killed in tribal fighting, political rioting and everything that was associated with the elections," a senior police commander told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Hundreds of thousands of people have also been displaced, mainly the capital's slums and western region regarded as the country's breadbasket.

Relative stability has returned in the country, although the opposition has threatened fresh demonstrations on Wednesday if Kibaki fails to recall parliament to enact constitutional amendments in order to share power.

Odinga's opposition Orange Democratic Movement insists on a powerful premier while the government has offered a non-executive office.

On Sunday, the government said both sides had agreed on the establishment of the post of a prime minister and two deputies, and that the premier would co-ordinate the performance of government ministries as well as perform duties assigned by the president.

In addition, a "coalition" government would cease to exist if parliament is dissolved or one partner pulls out, according to a government statement.

The crisis, which has affected the economy, has tapped into simmering resentment over land, poverty and the dominance of the Kikuyu, Kibaki's tribe, in Kenyan politics and business since independence from Britain in 1963.

Over the weekend, respected former parliament speaker Francis Ole Kaparo said Kibaki and Odinga hardliners had overseen the near-destruction of the country.

"I know them (Kibaki and Odinga) well and I know how difficult it is for them to place the interests of this nation first," said Kaparo, who was parliament speaker between 1993 to 2007.

AFP

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