By C. Bryson Hull and Duncan Miriri
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A top Kenyan government negotiator saidon Friday he was certain mediation efforts to end a deadlyelection dispute would bear fruit in days.
Riots and ethnic attacks have killed more than 1,000 peopleand uprooted 300,000 more since the December 27 polls,shattering Kenya's image as a stable business, tourism andtransport hub.
"It is not complete yet, but the progress is excellent. (Weexpect to finish) early next week," Mutula Kilonzo, a member ofthe government's negotiating team, said without elaborating.
Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan is leading the attempts tobring the country's feuding parties together. He said on Fridaythat the talks could not afford to fail -- and Kilonzo agreed.
"We cannot afford our people using bows and arrows, peoplebeing pulled out of buses to be asked 'which language do youspeak?' and then being chopped," Kilonzo said.
"We'll not allow that so I am 1,000 percent confident weare going to bring the country a solution to the presentsituation."
Negotiators for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leaderRaila Odinga have quickly agreed on principles to end violenceand help refugees, but remain stuck on the issue of who won theelection and what should happen next.
Foreign ministers from the regional IGAD bloc threw theirweight behind Annan on Friday, rejecting opposition chargesthey were visiting Kenya to launch separate talks to underminehim.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Ethiopian ForeignMinister Seyoum Mesfin said Annan had been called in by theAfrican Union, and the whole continent recognised itsauthority. "Proliferation of initiatives have not helpedanywhere," he said.
IGAD member nations have had bad experiences on thereceiving end of multiple peace initiatives, he said, referringto Somalia, Sudan and the Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict.
"KEEP THE PRESSURE"
Kenya holds IGAD's rotating chairmanship and has built upgoodwill in the bloc for its regional peace efforts.
In addition to hundreds of deaths, the turmoil in Kenya hasuprooted 300,000 people, many living in squalid conditions andfearful of returning home.
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 trip.
"I think what we are looking for is to keep the pressure onall sides," Holmes told reporters. On Saturday he was due tovisit Rift Valley towns hit by tribal clashes.
Both sides have accused each other of rigging the Decembervote -- allegations that triggered unrest laying bare deepdivisions over land, wealth and power that date from colonialrule and have since been stoked by politicians.
Annan, who was due to brief Kibaki and Odinga later onFriday, told BBC radio he was not ready to contemplate failure.
"I'm not ready to give up now ... We cannot afford to fail,he said, noting signs of compromise on both sides.
"They will have to shift. They will shift."
(For special coverage from Reuters on Kenya's crisis see:http://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/)
(Additional reporting by Peter Graff in London)
(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
