NAIROBI—Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday rejected bilateral talks with President Mwai Kibaki, dimming hopes for a breakthrough to end turmoil that has led to almost 500 deaths.
In further evidence of faltering peace prospects, Kibaki on Tuesday announced half his new cabinet, despite a previous offer to form a national unity government.
Kibaki had invited Odinga to talks on Friday but the opposition leader said he would only attend negotiations mediated by African Union chairman John Kufuor, who arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Kibaki did not invite Kufuor to the Friday talks and officials say he will remain in Nairobi for little more than 24 hours.
"We will not attend the talks on Friday. They are a sideshow," Odinga told a news conference.
Kibaki made a televised addressed to the nation to announce his cabinet, including the reappointment of Amos Kimunya as Finance Minister. He did not mention the crisis in his address.
Despite huge international pressure, especially from Western powers, Kibaki and Odinga have still not met face-to-face since violence erupted after Kibaki's disputed re-election on Dec. 30.
Odinga says Kibaki stole the Dec. 27 election and must step down and make way for a new vote after a transitional period.
Kibaki is reluctant to accept international mediation. His officials say the crisis is an internal matter.
Odinga accused Kibaki of trying to divert attention from Kufuor's mission by offering bilateral talks in what he called a "public relations gimmick".
"Clearly, he is extremely worried about an independent, international review of the election outcome," Odinga said.
Odinga called off nationwide protests to allow time for mediation to work, but says they will resume if it fails.
He says police have killed hundreds during protests.
Economic Cost
As the two sides squabbled, to the dismay of many ordinary Kenyans, Kimunya told Reuters he estimated the turmoil could have cost east Africa's biggest economy around $1 billion. One of the worst crises since Kenya's independence from Britain in 1963 has also badly hit a swathe of central and east African countries dependent on Mombasa port on the Indian Ocean.
Britain and the United States pressed Kibaki and Odinga to find a solution.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told parliament Kufuor "needs Kenyan leaders ready to engage. Fail to compromise and they will forfeit the confidence, goodwill and support of their own people and the international community".
Jendayi Frazer, Washington's top diplomat for Africa, also issued a stinging rebuke to political leaders.
Kenyans "have been cheated by their leadership and their institutions", she said.
Four former African presidents, including Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, on Tuesday visited the western town of Eldoret, in the area worst hit by ethnic killings, to meet refugees.
Officials say 255,000 people have fled their homes.
Relatives were still retrieving bodies in the area around Eldoret.
Faith Wairimu broke down in sobs as she stumbled across her husband's dismembered body in a field late on Monday. He was hacked to death in the same attack near Eldoret in which 30 people were burned to death in a church.
Aid agencies were erecting makeshift plastic tents in fields and rushing food, blankets, medicines and water to tens of thousands of refugees. Many are sleeping outdoors in the cold after their houses were burned down.
Odinga had looked on course to win the election until Kibaki, 76, was handed a narrow victory. Both sides alleged widespread rigging and international observers say the poll fell short of democratic standards.
Kalonzo Musyoka, whose ODM-K party came third in the election, was appointed Vice President and Home Affairs minister in Kibaki's cabinet.
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