NAIROBI (Reuters) - International mediators in Kenya cannot afford to fail, their leader said on Friday as they sought to end riots and ethnic violence over disputed elections which have killed more than 1,000 people.
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said there hadbeen signs of compromise from both sides in talks to end thecrisis but they needed to move further.
"They will have to shift. They will shift," Annan said ofKenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odingain an interview with BBC radio.
Visiting East African foreign ministers threw their weightbehind Annan on Friday after the Kenyan opposition accused thebloc of trying to launch separate talks to undermine him.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues from the regional IGADbloc, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said they werevisiting to show solidarity with Kenyans over the bloodshed andendorse Annan's mediation efforts.
Seyoum said that since Annan was acting under an AfricanUnion mandate, IGAD and all nations on the continent have tosubmit to its authority.
"We said proliferation of initiatives have not helpedanywhere and they are not either to help here in the Kenyancase," Seyoum told a news conference after they held talks withKibaki, opposition officials and Annan.
IGAD's member nations have had bad experiences on thereceiving end of multiple peace initiatives, he said, referringto Somalia, Sudan and the Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict.
Kenya holds the rotating chairmanship of IGAD and hasgoodwill in the bloc for its peace efforts in Somalia andSudan.
The turmoil in Kenya has also uprooted some 300,000 people,many living in squalid conditions and fearful of returninghome, which Seyoum called "unacceptable".
TALKS GRIND ON
To assess the situation, the U.N. Under-Secretary-Generalfor Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, JohnHolmes, flew into the country on Friday for a three-day visit.
"I think what we are looking for is to keep the pressure onall sides," Holmes told reporters.
Kenya's feuding parties have already agreed on principlesto stem violence and help refugees, but they are now stuck onthe original bone of contention -- who won the December vote.
Annan said he was not ready to contemplate failure. "I'mnot ready to give up now, and the team working with me are ofthe same spirit," Annan told the BBC. "We cannot afford tofail."
The signals for the violence had been around for a longtime, he said, which showed a failure of political leadershipwhich any ambitious politician would want to put right.
"The people are traumatised. They are angry. They are upsetwith their leaders, and if anyone remains recalcitrant anddifficult, I don't think the population will accept it. Theaverage citizen of Kenya will know who to blame," he said.
Both sides have accused each other of rigging the ballot --triggering unrest that laid bare rifts over land, wealth andpower dating from colonial rule and since stoked bypoliticians.
Kenya has become used to playing peacemaker in a volatileregion, and the violence following the ballot has shattered itsimage as a peaceful trade, tourism and transport hub.
U.S. officials said on Thursday that Washington hadthreatened travel bans on several Kenyans accused oforchestrating bloodshed. The U.S. embassy gave the figure as 10people, while the State Department said it was eight.
"There is roughly an equal number for both sides of thepolitical spectrum," U.S. embassy spokesman T.J. Dowling saidin Nairobi.
(For special coverage from Reuters on Kenya's crisis see:http ://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/)
(Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri in Nairobi and PeterGraff in London)
(Writing by Daniel Wallis and Bryson Hull; editing byPhilippa Fletcher)
