More violence in Kenya as AU prepares for talks

By Daniel Wallis and Alistair Thomson

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya suffered fresh violence overnight as the African Union prepared for talks on Wednesday to end post-election turmoil that has killed 500.

After a lull in clashes that erupted following President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election at December 27 polls, Kibaki named 17 ministers on Tuesday -- prompting further protests.

Witnesses said one man was shot dead in Kisumu, a western stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga, where hundreds of rioters built burning barricades and stoned cars.

Slum residents in Nairobi said opposition supporters also took to the streets, some of them brandishing machetes.

"They are going wild. They are very angry about the new cabinet," Onyango Apudo, a boxer who lives in the capital's sprawling Mathare shanty-town, told Reuters.

Locals in Kibera, another Nairobi slum that is one of Africa's biggest, said Odinga supporters were also demonstrating there, and that vehicles heading for the area were turning back.

Nearly 500 people have died in the violence and tribal clashes since an election that the opposition says was rigged and foreign monitors said fell short of democratic standards.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) on Tuesday rejected an offer of bilateral talks from Kibaki, saying they would be a "sideshow" if not chaired by international mediators.

Hours later, Kibaki unveiled a cabinet that the opposition saw as an attempt to cement his victory and reduce the scope for a national unity government, which he also offered earlier.

The ODM said Kibaki's move was illegal and made a mockery of his agreement to enter serious talks mediated by AU chairman and Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who arrived for crisis meetings with both sides.

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE

Kibaki did not invite Kufuor to the bilateral talks, and Kenyan government officials said the AU leader would only stay in Nairobi for little more than 24 hours.

Washington pressed Kenya's opposition and government to hold talks as its top diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, extended a visit to help reconcile the two.

"It is of primary importance that they open up those channels of communication," a State Department spokesman said.

Stoking anger among ODM supporters, Kibaki retained several figures in his new cabinet who are loathed by the opposition, including former hardline Internal Security Minister John Michuki, who moved to the roads ministry.