By Katie Nguyen
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's political leaders are intent onhealing wounds and uniting a country torn apart bypost-election violence, opposition leader Raila Odinga said onTuesday.
"We want to work as one team to unite Kenya. We want toheal those wounds that emerged after the elections," Odingatold reporters after meeting President Mwai Kibaki for thefirst time since they signed a power-sharing pact five daysago.
Under the agreement to end two months of political turmoil,parliament is due to pass a constitutional amendment to allowOdinga to become prime minister in a newly-created post.
Odinga said his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) woulddiscuss how to carve up the cabinet with Kibaki's Party ofNational Unity after Thursday's parliamentary session.
Kibaki left the meeting without commenting, and his officelater issued a statement saying the two men had agreed toensure the deal would be implemented fully.
Kenyans have welcomed the move to end of one the country'sbloodiest moments since independence in 1963. More than 1,000people were killed and 300,000 uprooted in tribally-tingedviolence triggered by Kibaki's disputed re-election inDecember.
"The president and the ODM leader also agreed to worktogether towards uniting all Kenyans and accelerating thehealing process by holding meetings with different communitieswith a view to ensuring that wananchi (the people) livetogether peacefully," the statement added.
PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
Dorothy Angote, Kenya's vice minister for justice andconstitutional affairs, said the agreement signed last Fridaybetween President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader RailaOdinga was a "triumph for dialogue and diplomacy and also forpeace and reconciliation".
It sought to move Kenya forward, "begin the healing andreconciliation process... address the root causes of theconflict, and to create a more secure country for all Kenyans,"she said in Geneva.
Angote was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council whose47 member states are holding a four-week meeting in Geneva toexamine abuses worldwide.
A government-funded rights group called on Kibaki andOdinga to visit the worst-affected areas together to fosternational reconciliation after clashes that shattered Kenya'simage as a relatively stable haven in a conflict-ridden region.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) alsosaid it would carry out an investigation into the violence,with its findings due to be released later this month.
Despite the progress made, analysts say there is still muchmore to be done to resolve deep grievances over thedistribution of land, wealth and power that fuelled thepost-election unrest.
Negotiators from both sides raised the prospect of anothervote -- a referendum on a new constitution, which most Kenyansbelieve is the only way to properly address such issues.
Though violence has abated in most of the country, landclashes flared on Monday in the Mount Elgon region close to theborder with Uganda.
Private television station KTN said security forces weredeployed to the area on Tuesday as helicopters whirred aboveafter 12 people were killed in an attack blamed on militias.
(Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri, Jack Kimball, LisaNtungacimpaye and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing byBryson Hull)
(To have your say on the breakthrough agreement or to readwhat others have to say, visit Reuters Africa's talking pointathttp://blogs.reuters.com/africa/2008/02/28/kenya-rivals-agree-peace-deal-how-will-it-be-secured/ )
