Bush urges power-sharing, Kenyans skeptical

By Katie Nguyen

NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush stepped up the pressure on Saturday for a power-sharing pact in Kenya to end a post-election crisis that has killed 1,000 people, but many Kenyans were skeptical about a quick deal.

Bush, who began a five-nation trip to Africa on Saturday, is sending his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya to support mediation efforts led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to bring the feuding sides together.

Bush is not scheduled to visit Kenya where President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election triggered ethnically-tinged clashes that left 300,000 people homeless and hurt the country's image as one of Africa's most stable democracies.

Rice's mission to Kenya was "aimed at having a clear message that there be no violence and that there ought to be a power-sharing agreement", Bush told reporters in Benin.

Rice is due in Nairobi on Monday as Annan, who advocates a "grand coalition" to solve Kenya's troubles, meets Kibaki and his opposition rival Raila Odinga.

Washington's top Africa diplomat, Jendayi Frazer, said she believed the two men -- former allies who fell out -- understood they had to find a credible lasting solution to the dispute.

She warned that any individuals seen to be obstructing peace efforts or a power-sharing agreement may face U.S. sanctions.

Many Kenyans believe a shared government offers the best, immediate formula to resolving a dispute over who won the country's closest-ever presidential vote on December 27.