Michael Ranneberger Kenya crisis talks end in failure ...
Kibaki hints at unity government ...
Opinion: Turn Up the Heat on Kenya's President ...
Kenyan opposition claims victory ...
Hunger strike Somalis get asylum ... said government adverts which have appeared over the past week in local newspapers were "scurrilous propaganda".

He said that condemning electoral fraud was not an incitement to violence.

Former UN chief Kofi Annan is due to arrive in Kenya later to mediate in the crisis which has left 650 people dead.

One of the latest victims is young Kenyan marathon runner Wesley Ngetich, who was shot in the chest with an arrow in fighting in his hometown of Trans Mara in the Rift Valley.

In the capital, Nairobi, police have fired tear gas to disperse a small group of supporters of President Mwai Kibaki.

They had banners with the president's face and slogans which read "Respect Kibaki".

The police have banned all public demonstrations since the elections.

Most have been by the opposition, who say their candidate Raila Odinga was cheated of victory.

'Evidence'

In his statement, Mr Ranneberger said he did not think Mr Kibaki was behind the adverts, which were placed by the office of public communications.

"It is irresponsible to say, as the advertisement does, that speaking the truth provides incitement to ethnic violence.

"There is compelling evidence of serious irregularities in the vote-tallying from a wide variety of non-partisan sources," he said.

On Monday, the British ambassador to Kenya was summoned to explain remarks by a junior UK minister, suggesting that the former colonial power did not recognise Mr Kibaki as president.

"Our elections do not need a stamp of authority from the House of Commons," Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula.

On Monday, Mr Odinga said he would only meet President Kibaki if Kofi Annan joined them.

Mr Kibaki has rejected opposition calls for a recount of the elections or fresh polls.

President Yoweri Museveni of Kenya's neighbour Uganda is also expected in Nairobi to help mediation efforts.

As well as those killed, some 250,000 people have fled their homes because of the violence across the country.

(BBC)

<< Back