Bush says wants to help and not dictate to Kenya

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Sunday he did not want to dictate how to bring an end to bloody political violence in Kenya, but to help push along mediation led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.

Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Nairobi on Monday.

He said ahead of the trip he and Rice had discussed with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete "how best we can help the process. Not what we should do to dictate the process but what America can do to help the process move along."

Bush, who started a five-nation tour of Africa on Saturday, has thrown his weight behind a power-sharing deal in Kenya to end a standoff over President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election which triggered a wave of ethnic killings.

One thousand people have been killed and 300,000 left homeless in the crisis, one of the bloodiest chapters in Kenya's post-independence history.

Annan said considerable progress was made in talks this week, including agreement for an independent review of the polls. But, experts say an agreement on power-sharing terms is the major sticking point.

In an effort to shore up Annan's mediation, U.S. officials said the United States was ready to sanction any individuals who sought to obstruct Kenyan peace moves.