Kenya govt denounces "genocide" as toll hits 300

By C. Bryson Hull and Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - President Mwai Kibaki's government accused rival Raila Odinga's party of unleashing "genocide" in Kenya on Wednesday as the death toll from tribal violence over a disputed election passed 300.

"It is becoming clear that these well-organized acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were well planned, financed and rehearsed by Orange Democratic Movement leaders prior to the general elections," said the statement read by Lands Minister Kivutha Kibwana on behalf of his colleagues.

Odinga's party shot back that the government was also "bordering on genocide" by ordering police to shoot protesters enraged by Kibaki's victory in the December 27 polls that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.

Both sides alleged massive rigging.

Kenya is an important ally of the West in its counter-terrorism efforts, takes growing money flows from China, and is used to being the peacemaker in African hot-spots like Somalia and Sudan rather than the problem.

Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe was targeted in the initial violence, but revenge killings by Kikuyus are on the rise in mayhem that rights groups say has been exacerbated by a police crackdown on rioting and looting.

Apparently offering an olive branch to the ODM, which draws most of its support from western Kenya's Luo tribe, Kibaki invited all members of the new opposition-dominated parliament to a meeting at State House in Nairobi.

But no opposition MPs attended as Odinga demanded outside mediation: "We cannot dialogue with a thief," he told reporters. "We are not interested in talking with Kibaki without international mediation."

A statement by Kibaki's office deplored the violence and vowed to secure roads "so essential goods and services can reach people in the areas and other countries in the region".

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Ghanaian President and African Union Chairman John Kufuor has been urged by the West to mediate and was waiting to talk to Kibaki before deciding whether to go himself or send a team.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Kufuor would fly to meet Kibaki and Odinga on Thursday. Late on Wednesday, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya told BBC Radio there was no need for Ghana's president to come.

Odinga plans a mass rally on Thursday that the government has banned on security grounds.

The use of the word genocide will horrify Kenyans, used to being viewed by the world as a stable democracy, an investment and tourist destination and oasis of peace in a volatile region.

The turmoil delayed trading in the shilling currency, which then dropped to a six-week low. Stocks also fell and tea and coffee auctions were postponed.