By Daniel Wallis and C. Bryson Hull
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's power-sharing deal could bemade to work, rival leaders said on Friday, boosting hopes aprocess of reconciliation would now begin after post-electionbloodshed.
Political factions met following the signing by PresidentMwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga on Thursday of a dealsetting up a coalition government.
The two men had come under huge pressure from world powersand Kenya's 36 million people to find a solution to end twomonths of turmoil and help repair the country's reputation aseast Africa's business, tourism and transport centre.
Kibaki said the "process of national reconciliation andhealing" had begun, according to his office. He reaffirmed hissupport for the agreement and "expressed confidence that itwould be implemented fully in the interest of all Kenyans".
Odinga said he was confident "that everyone is going to tryand ensure that this coalition will work and succeed".
Asked by BBC radio what would happen if it fell through, hesaid: "In my view that would lead to disintegration of thecountry."
Kenya's shilling currency hit a 45-day high against thedollar buoyed by positive sentiment on the deal, traders said.Brokers said the main share index rose 3 percent from the endof last week.
"There is certainly a lot of optimism from this, and wehope that towards the end of the second quarter we'll see areturn to the levels of foreign interest we were seeingbefore," said Sunil Sanger, managing director of CFC FinancialServices in Nairobi.
'HAPPY NEW YEAR'
Many Kenyans greeted each other with "Happy New Year", areference to the fact those celebrations were delayed by spasmsof violence after Kibaki was sworn in on December 30.
But the optimism was tempered by a recognition that thesigning was only a first step and the proof would be in thedeal's implementation, due to start when Kenya's often unrulyparliament opens on Thursday.
Some Kenyans were less sanguine about the future, and thechances of healing deep ethnic rifts left by the killings ofmore than 1,000 people and the displacement of 300,000 more.
"Kibaki and Raila have never slept in the cold hungry andthis agreement means nothing to us," said Alice Wangui, a womanfrom the Kikuyu tribe forced to leave her ethnic Luo husbandand stay in a refugee camp in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha.
Kenya's parliament is split right down the middle betweenKibaki and Odinga's allies.
Under the deal, Odinga becomes executive prime minister --a job he claims Kibaki promised but failed to give him inexchange for support at the 2002 election -- and the cabinetwill be split based on parliamentary representation.
The agreement will enshrine in law those constitutionalchanges, the first part of a complete overhaul of the documentthat has guided Kenya for 45 years.
Mediator Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general, hassaid the talks will produce lasting solutions to those issueswithin 12 months. A spokesman for Annan said the two sidesresumed discussions on Friday.
John Githongo, who quit as Kenya's first anti-corruptionadviser in 2005, told Reuters in London: "It's an extremelypositive first development. It averts the immediate threat ofviolence hanging over Kenya."
(Additional reporting by Jack Kimball and George Obulutsain Nairobi, George Murage in Naivasha and Tsegaye Tadesse inAddis Ababa; Adrian Croft in London; editing by Giles Elgoodand Robert Woodward)
(For in depth coverage on Reuters Africa Web site:http://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/ )
