Kenya negotiators consult bosses on impending deal

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Negotiators for Kenya's rival politicalparties consulted their bosses on Saturday and poured over adraft for a new prime minister's post to resolve apost-election crisis that has killed more than 1,000 people.

"The draft bill is being considered in smoke-filled roomsthroughout the country," government negotiator Mutula Kilonzotold Reuters. "We should reach a deal by Wednesday latest."

Exhausted by the nearly two-month, post-election crisis,most of Kenya's 36 million people now want a quick politicalsettlement between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leaderRaila Odinga so the country can start returning to normal.

What began as a dispute over the vote count from theDecember 27 election quickly descended into violent protestsand ethnic fighting that were the east African nation's darkestmoments since independence from Britain in 1963.

The unrest made more than 300,000 people homeless, damagedone of Africa's brightest economies, and dented Kenya'sreputation as a stable hub for trade and tourism.

"Both the government and the opposition know all too wellthat a more brutal and vicious fight is likely if the peacedeal being brokered by Dr Kofi Annan's team fails," the DailyNation said in an editorial on Saturday.

Matching the domestic pressure, Western powers -- includingU.S. President George Bush on his just-finished Africa tour --have urged the parties to reach a power-sharing deal.

Kibaki and Odinga's teams have agreed in principle thatthey will create a new prime minister's post for theopposition, which accuses the government of stealing the voteby fraud.

Kilonzo said they had come up with a draft bill that wouldgive the prime minister -- certain to be Odinga -- "substantialauthority" including coordinating the work of ministries.

"I do not doubt we are going to have an agreement. What wecannot afford is to do this in a panic or under duress. If wedo not do it well, it will blow up in our faces," he said.

ANNAN - "HURRY UP"

Opposition officials could not be reached on Saturday, butthe Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) wants a powerfulpremiership and a 50:50 role in cabinet.

It has expressed confidence a deal will be reached but alsoraised the stakes by threatening to resume street protests byWednesday if its demands are not met.

Kilonzo said the ODM had dropped its demand for a newelection within two or three years.

While there is enormous pressure for a political deal,analysts fear such a pact among Kenya's elite may enable thepoliticians to ignore the deeper roots of the crisis such asland and wealth inequalities and an outdated constitution.

On the street, many Kenyans share that scepticism.

"The politicians will be all right, of course, in theircountry clubs and big houses. They always are, aren't they?"said Jim Magoha, an ice-cream vendor in Nairobi. "How many ofthem know how we live, or have even seen the refugee camps?"

Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) and Odinga's ODMwere coalitions built up not on any major ideologicaldifferences, but along geographical lines involving alliancesbetween different communities and parties.

"This is all about sharing Kenya's cake. Let's not try anddress it up into anything more respectable," a diplomat said.

Former U.N. boss Annan has been upbeat throughout his toughmediation role, but let slip some frustration when talks brokefor the weekend on Friday without a deal.

He bluntly told the parties to return on Monday ready toconclude an agreement. "We must give the Kenyan people whatthey are hoping and praying for. They have suffered greatly."