Pressure Grows on Kenya to End Bloodshed

International pressure was growing today on Kenya's political leaders to end the violence that has hit the country since Sunday's disputed presidential vote.

In a joint statement, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, and his US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, called for political compromise in Kenya to stop the bloodshed that has claimed more than 300 lives.

The head of the African Union, the Ghanian president John Kufuor, is due to arrive in Nairobi later today to help mediate an end to the violence.

His mission is being backed by Gordon Brown, who said he would do everything in is power to promote reconciliation.

Brown has been in phone contact with both president Mwai Kibaki, whose re-election on Sunday is widely seen to have been rigged, and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

In their statement, Miliband and Rice said "there are independent reports of serious irregularities in the counting process".

But it said the immediate focus should be on negotiation between Odinga and the president.

Miliband pointed out there were allegations of voting irregularities on both sides. "We don't know who won," he insisted in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"There is a responsibility on both sides to ensure that the political process is maintained." He said both Kibaki and Odinga "need to reach out and find common ground".

He added: "I very much hope that both Mr Odinga and President Kibaki will realise that actually there is nothing to be gained by either of them in pretending that this is cut and dried."

Yesterday Odinga rejected a plea by Brown to negotiate with Kibaki, saying he would only do so if Kibaki acknowledged that he had lost the election. Asked about this rebuff, Miliband said: "There are public and private discussions going on."

Meanwhile, Kibaki has invited all the newly elected parliament, which is dominated by his opponents, to a meeting to soothe tensions.

Today, Kenya's Standard newspaper quoted the head of the country's electoral commission, Samuel Kivuitu, as saying: "I do not know whether Kibaki won the election."

Yesterday, up to 50 ethnic Kikuyus were burned alive in a church where they were sheltering from the violence. It brought the death toll to more than 275 after four days of rioting.

Reuters reported the government had banned TV stations from live broadcasts ahead of protest rallies against the election results planned for tomorrow. The government has also tried to ban the protests themselves.