Post Election 2007 Violence in Kenya: 1,000 killed in Kenya

By Alistair Thomson and Daniel Wallis

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Riots and post-election violence in Kenya may have killed up to 1,000 people, the opposition said on Monday as it halted protests and President Mwai Kibaki invited his main rival to talks.

The east African country has been hit by a wave of demonstrations and tribal clashes since Kibaki's disputed win in December 27 polls over opposition challenger Raila Odinga.

The government raised its death toll to nearly 500 and 255,000 displaced Monday. But Odinga told Reuters that "closer to a thousand" people might have died.

Aid workers say the toll could go higher after one of Kenya's worst crises since independence from Britain in 1963.

Kibaki's office said he had invited Odinga and several religious leaders to talks Friday on how to stop the violence, consolidate peace and forge "national reconciliation."

Odinga's aides could not immediately be reached for comment.

As international mediation efforts were stepped up, the head of the African Union, John Kufuor, was due to arrive in Nairobi Tuesday, and Odinga said the Ghanaian president could begin chairing talks as early as Wednesday.

World powers have been horrified by the sudden outbreak of bloodshed in a country once seen as one of the continent's most stable democracies and promising economies. Continued...

Up to 1,000 killed in Kenya crisis: Odinga | Reuters