Bush urges reconciliation in Kenyan dispute

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush urged Kenyans on Thursday to refrain from further violence and called on Kenya's president and opposition leader to work together to resolve a bitter election dispute that has sparked bloody turmoil.

"It's very important for the people of Kenya to not resort to violence," Bush told Reuters in an interview at the White House.

Kenya, until now one of Africa's most stable and prosperous countries, has been hit with a wave of violence that has killed at least 300 people over the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki in a December 27 election.

Asked whether Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga should share power, Bush said, "I believe that they have an opportunity to come together in some kind of arrangement that will help heal the wounds of a closely divided election."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who personally called on the rival leaders to work out a political solution and end the violence, dispatched her top diplomat for Africa to Nairobi on Thursday, the State Department said.

"Secretary Rice has asked Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer to travel to Kenya and to meet with both of the political leaders, as well as others in Kenyan civil society, to see what ideas they might generate in order to find a way out of this political crisis," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

Frazer, who would reach Kenya on Friday, was tasked "not to be a mediator, but to see what's there," said a U.S. official.

Rice telephoned Kibaki on Thursday morning and Odinga the previous night, urging them to "broker some political solution to the political crisis," McCormack said.

"We're urging them to come together and to have a political dialogue that leads to a political solution, whatever that may be, that puts an end to the crisis and an end to the violence," McCormack told reporters.

Bush said Rice had also called other African leaders.

The turmoil has threatened Kenya's reputation as one of Africa's most promising democracies, strongest economies and favorite tourist destinations.

McCormack said the U.S. stance was to urge reconciliation and support a made-in-Kenya solution, without being "prescriptive" about any outcome in Nairobi.

Kibaki appealed for calm and offered to talk to political rivals on Thursday after another day of battles between police and protesters disputing his re-election.

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert; editing by Mohammad Zargham)