Kenya's opposition leader called Sunday for more rallies across the country, raising the threat of more bloodshed, but also indicated he was willing to share power with the government he accuses of rigging the presidential vote.
More than 300 people have died in fighting since the Dec. 27 vote, bringing chaos to a country of 34 million people that had been one of East Africa's most stable democracies and revived simmering tribal resentments.
The opposition leader Raila Odinga rejected President Mwai Kibaki's offer of a "unity government" but said he was willing to consider a power-sharing agreement guaranteed by the international community. Still, his call for new protests on Tuesday despite a government ban imposed during the unrest dimmed the prospect of a quick resolution.
"This fighting is meaningless," 17-year-old Eliakim Omondi said at a Lutheran church in Nairobi's Kibera slum that was torched days ago. "I wish they would just talk and square everything so the fighting will stop."
Kibaki, re-elected by a narrow margin in a vote count that international observers say was deeply flawed, said Saturday he was willing to form a unity government after meeting with the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer.
Odinga rejected that proposal, but his spokesman said they were open to other solutions.
"A government of national unity is not acceptable to us," said the spokesman, Salim Lone. "But there are other formulations, such as a coalition government with genuine power sharing that we are willing to discuss."
The other opposition proposal is to set up an interim government with a mandate to hold new presidential elections, he said.
It would be nearly impossible for Kibaki to govern without opposition support. In parliamentary balloting, Odinga's party won 95 of 210 legislative seats and half of Kibaki's Cabinet lost their seats.
Odinga welcomed the imminent arrival of Ghana's President John Kufuor, current chairman of the African Union, who is expected in Nairobi by Tuesday.
ABC News: Kenya Opposition Calls for More Rallies
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Members of the congregation pray during a mass inside a Lutheran church which was damaged by fire during riots in the slum of Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Kenyans prayed Sunday for peace and an end to a political deadlock that sparked a week of deadly riots, while the opposition rejected an offer from the president to form a unity government. (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)
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