By C. Bryson Hull and Duncan Miriri
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's president and opposition leadersigned a deal to create a power-sharing government on Thursday,hoping to end a post-election crisis that plunged the countryinto its worst turmoil since independence.
After a month of often bitter negotiations punctuated byviolence around the east African nation, President Mwai Kibakiand his rival Raila Odinga inked an agreement and shook handsto a roar of applause.
"We have a deal," mediator Kofi Annan said. "Compromise wasnecessary for the survival of this country ... they kept thefuture of Kenya always in their sights and reached a commonposition for the good of the nation."
Kibaki and Odinga were under intense pressure from theinternational community and Kenya's 36 million people to find asolution to forestall more bloodshed and help restore theircountry's reputation as a stable, prosperous regional anchor.
Kibaki's disputed re-election in a December 27 ballottriggered ethnic clashes that killed at least 1,000 people andforced 300,000 more to flee their homes.
Under the deal, a new prime minister's position will becreated for Odinga, who has sought that role since he firsthelped elect Kibaki in 2002. He claims the president reneged ona deal to give him the job after that vote.
It will also give cabinet posts based on each party'sstrength in parliament and create two deputy prime ministers'jobs, one for each side of the coalition. Odinga's OrangeDemocratic Movement (ODM) has the largest number of seats.
Later, Kenya will undertake a full review of theconstitution, a 45-year-old document which many Kenyans havepushed to change since the 1990s since it gives the presidentnearly unchecked authority over affairs of state.
Many Kenyans want a new charter to help address rifts overland, tribe and wealth that have plagued the nation sincebefore independence from Britain in 1963.
"NEW CHAPTER"
Thursday's talks brought Odinga and Kibaki to the sametable for the first time in a month, after an exasperated Annansuspended negotiations on Tuesday and said the two leaders hadto strike a deal themselves.
"As a nation there are more issues that unite than divideus. We've been reminded we must do all in our power tosafeguard the peace that is the foundation of our nationalunity ... Kenya has room for all of us," Kibaki said after thesigning.
He ordered parliament to convene next Thursday to pass aconstitutional amendment to push through the changes.
A beaming Odinga said: "We have opened a new chapter in ourhistory, from the era of confrontation to the beginning ofcooperation."
"We should begin to ensure that Kenyans begin to celebrateand love each other, that we destroy the monster that is calledethnicity," he said.
Shortly afterward, riot police fired several canisters ofteargas at rowdy Odinga supporters celebrating near thepresident's downtown office where the ceremony took place.
In Odinga's opposition stronghold Kisumu, on the shores ofLake Victoria in western Kenya, residents took to the streetscelebrating and ululating over the deal.
The immediate effect on Kenya's economy was not clear asmarkets had closed, but the shilling currency had strengthenedin anticipation of an agreement this week.
"The closer you get to a resolution, the better. Thequestion is now the magnitude of the damage done to companiesand the economy," said Matthew Pearson, head of Africanequities research at Renaissance Capital Management in London.
"SENSE PREVAILS"
The crisis erupted after Kibaki was sworn in on December 30and Odinga claimed the election was rigged.
Kibaki said he won fairly and blamed his rival for incitingviolence instead of going to court to challenge the result --the closest in Kenya's post-independence history.
Protests turned into riots and looting met with a forcefulpolice response. Simultaneously, ethnic attacks by oppositionbackers on Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe exploded and then unleashedreprisal killings.
The United States, Britain and the European Union applaudedThursday's deal, which they had pushed very hard to getfinished as quickly as possible.
"We are pleased ... It allows the Kenyan people to moveforward with a very basic issue of governance," U.S. StateDepartment spokesman Tom Casey said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "common sense" hadprevailed that he was ready to host a donors conference forKenya in London. "Real leadership, patience and tolerance isnecessary to ensure that the agreement sticks," Brown said.
(Additional reporting by Wangui Kanina, Jack Kimball,Daniel Wallis, George Obulutsa and Bryson Hull in Nairobi,Adrian Croft and Sebastian Tong in London, and Susan Cornwellin Washington; Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Giles Elgood)
(For in depth coverage on Reuters Africa Web site:http://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/ )
