Kibaki hints at unity government

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki says he is ready to form a government of national unity, an official statement said.

The statement was issued after Mr Kibaki met the top US diplomat on Africa, Jendayi Frazer.

But opposition leader Raila Odinga says Mr Kibaki must step down as president and new elections be held.

Kenya has been wracked by violence since presidential elections last month which the opposition says were rigged in Mr Kibaki's favour.

The official statement said Mr Kibaki was "ready to form a government of national unity that would not only unite Kenyans but would also help in the healing and reconciliation process."

It also said Ms Frazer had commended Mr Kibaki for reaching out to the opposition in order to stop the violence, and had called on all parties to embrace dialogue as a way out of the current situation.

But Mr Odinga said his position had not changed.

"We want a negotiated settlement. Our starting point is that Kibaki is there illegally. He should not come to the negotiating table as the president," he said.

He said there would be no direct negotiations with Mr Kibaki.

It is understood that Ms Frazer was to have a second round of talks with Mr Odinga.

Refugees

The US delegation is not releasing details of its side of discussions, but the BBC understands that it is pushing the line that there should be a government of national unity.

More than 350 people have been killed in Kenya and 250,000 made homeless in violence since the 27 December elections.

The talks in Nairobi come amid warnings by UN officials that a humanitarian crisis was worsening across Kenya.

The regions worst hit are western Kenya and the Rift Valley.

There is plenty of food in the country but trucks have been unable to deliver it because of vigilante violence on many roads, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is providing supplies for 100,000 people in the northern Rift Valley.

"We need supplies up here urgently


particularly of cooking oil and of corn-soya blend which is particularly important for feeding young children at risk of malnutrition," the WFP's Marcus Prior told the BBC.

"Forty per cent of those people displaced are children and this operation is particularly urgent because people left their homes with really nothing at all."

The Red Cross are arranging transport and security to make sure the food gets where it is needed.

A group of independent UN rights experts on Friday said they were "profoundly alarmed" by reports of incitement to racial hatred and growing frictions between Kenya's different ethnic groups.

Kenyan politics has been dogged by ethnic tensions since independence in 1963.

Mr Kibaki depends for support on the largest ethnic group, the Kikuyus, while the western Luo and Kalenjin groups - who seek greater autonomy - back Mr Odinga.