By Wangui Kanina
The move came as pressure mounted on Kenya's feuding parties to resolve a crisis triggered by the December 27 polls that has killed more than 1,000 people and uprooted some 300,000 others.
U.S. Embassy officials in Nairobi said letters had been sent to all involved and five of those banned from the United States were politicians while the rest were prominent businesspeople. They refused to give further details.
"I have not received any letter and even if I received it, I would write back 'Heaven is not in your country, it is right here in my country," Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua, one of Kibaki's toughest backers, told reporters.
"There is a precedent for even a head of state and their families to face bans," one Western diplomat said, referring to a European ban on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
TALKS
European Union aid chief Louis Michel was among those in Nairobi on Thursday, where he met with Annan, Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
But Odinga told reporters his stand that Kibaki should step down had changed: "We are not static on that point. We are willing to move so that an acceptable solution can be found."
Foreign ministers of the regional bloc IGAD were also in town to meet Annan and among themselves, while leaders of another regional bloc, the East African Community, were due to arrive on Friday.
They say Kibaki is seeking to legitimise his position "through the back door" by playing host. Kibaki last week was recognised as a head of state at an African Union summit, a meeting which the opposition tried to get into but failed.
Beyond the ballot, the crisis has laid bare divisions over land, wealth and power that date from colonial rule and have since been stoked by politicians, particularly at election time.
"Knowing Kenya's history, and the way that Kenya has been gradually climbing and not declining, sometimes a small valley is a prelude to a very good, steep climb ahead," he told Reuters.
(For special coverage from Reuters on Kenya's crisis see: http ://africa.reuters.com/elections/kenya/)
(Writing by Daniel Wallis, editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Philippa Fletcher)
