Opposition to Resume Protests After Kenya Talks Fail

Kenya's main opposition party today called for three days of mass rallies after the failure of the first British-backed African Union attempt at mediation in the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.

Raila Odinga's opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) also called for international sanctions on Kibaki's government.

"Sanctions at this point of time are necessary ... it would be irresponsible to trust this government with a single cent," the ODM secretary general, Anyang' Nyong'o, told reporters.

In calling for the resumption of protests, the opposition said that rallies would be held in nearly 30 places around Kenya next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The ODM said it had asked police to provide security for a planned mass rally on Wednesday in a central Nairobi park. Previous protests have led to riots and vicious clashes between Odinga's supporters and the security forces, leaving at least 500 dead since last month's vote.

"Due to the large numbers of people expected we request the police to provide us with security," the ODM said in a statement. "The meeting shall be addressed by party leaders and officials."

A police spokesman said he would announce a decision about the rally request by Wednesday "based on the intelligence reports we receive".

Tony Gachoka, an ODM spokesman, said the decision to restart protests came in response to the failure of mediation talks by the Ghanian president and African Union chairman, John Kufuor.

The opposition, which accuses Kibaki of rigging the December 27 election, has refused to meet the Kenyan president face to face, insisting on the presence of a credible international mediator.

Kufuor flew home from Nairobi after the opposition announced he was not the credible international mediator they had in mind. He also met resistance from the Kenyan government, who insisted it was merely a fact-finding trip. It said no foreign help was needed.

It will now fall to the former UN general secretary Kofi Annan to bring Kibaki and Odinga together. Annan will not arrive in Nairobi until Tuesday.

Before leaving Kenya yesterday, Kufuor told reporters that both parties had agreed to work together with Annan and a panel of eminent Africans to end the political crisis and stop the violence that has already cost 500 lives.

Hopes for a power-sharing compromise between the government and main opposition party were dampened when Kibaki's allies were sworn in yesterday as cabinet ministers.

The European Union and the US have been pressing for Kibaki and Odinga to meet. Britain has not recognized the new government of Kenya, and the foreign secretary, David Miliband, said yesterday the Kenyan government would have to "clearly represent a credible expression of the will of the people" for this to happen.