Kenya's leader sign deal to end bloody conflict (Roundup)

Feb 28, 2008, 16:11 GMT

Kofi Annan (R) speaks with opposition leader Raila Odinga in Nairobi, Kenya on 27 February 2008. EPA/GEORGE MULALA

Nairobi - Kenya's leaders agreed on a political settlement Thursday meant to end the violent crisis over disputed polls that has left more than 1,000 people dead.

One month after often bumpy negotiations began, President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed an agreement that would create a coalition government, with a prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and a proportional sharing of cabinet postings.

Kenya's diplomatic corps flanked the leaders, who smiled and shook hands several times beside former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan who has been mediating the talks and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete who visited in his role as head of the African Union.

'Let the spirit of healing begin today. Let it begin now,' a visibly relieved Annan told the crowd at the office of the president.

Annan nearly gave up on the mediation, abandoning the negotiating teams and preferring instead to deal directly with Kibaki and Odinga, which brought about the agreement.

The political settlement has been seen as the best way to cool simmering tensions among Odinga's supporters who have allegedly taken the lull in violence to rearm and prepare for a new front should there be no deal.

But the negotiating teams are set to convene Friday to begin work on longer term issues, such as land reform and inequitable distribution of resources, which are seen as the underlying causes of the ethnic-based conflict.

'We must ensure we destroy the monster that is called ethnicity,' an upbeat Odinga said, after calling Kibaki president for one of the first times since the polls.

The negotiations had reached several snags along the way and tensions mounted this week when Annan said the negotiators had made no progress. He met with both leaders three times since Tuesday before the agreement was reached.

Kibaki, who is charged with rigging the polls, said his government would support the deal's implementation.

'There will be challenges along the way, but I am confident that through dialogue and a sense of unity and common purpose ... we shall succeed,' he said, adding that parliament would be convened March 6.

US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger welcomed the agreement. 'Kenya will emerge out of this crisis a stronger country,' he said, a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatened those blocking a deal would face consequences.

A crowd of about 100 people gathered across the street to watch the proceedings and cheered as the speeches were delivered. As the dignitaries and politicians left, police on horseback threw tear gas into the peaceful mass and scattered it with gunfire for unknown reasons.

The country known for its fabled game parks and pristine coastline was plunged into chaos after the declaration of Kibaki as winner, turning neighbour on neighbour in ethnic violence unseen since independence from Britain in 1963.

The conflict displaced more than 300,000 people and has carved the country up along ethnic lines that may leave the nation vulnerable to more violence.