Kenya's opposition to renew protests

Kenya's opposition has called for three days of nationwide protests next week after mediation failed and the country's post-election…

Kenya's opposition has called for three days of nationwide protests next week after mediation failed and the country's post-election crisis worsened.

Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) also called for international sanctions against President Mwai Kibaki, who was re-elected in a disputed December 27th poll, saying world leaders would be irresponsible to trust him with "a single cent".

"We are asking our countrymen and women with whom we feel such great sadness and solidarity to join us in demonstrations countrywide on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week," ODM secretary general Anyang' Nyong'o told reporters.

Mr Odinga's supporters say Mr Kibaki stole the vote, and Mr Nyong'o said Kenyans had every right to protest peacefully.

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ODM said demonstrations would be held in nearly 30 places around Kenya, and that it had asked police to provide security for a mass rally on Wednesday in central Nairobi.

Previous protests have triggered riots and vicious clashes between Mr Odinga's supporters and the security forces, adding to a death toll of around 500 since the ballot.

Police have banned all political rallies. As officers in riot gear patrolled parts of the capital today, a government spokesman urged Kenyans to ignore ODM's appeal.

"The leaders calling on you to take to the streets to burn shops and destroy property will not be with you or your family when you have no job anymore," spokesman Alfred Mutua said.

The unrest has tarnished Kenya's democratic credentials, damaged east Africa's biggest and previously booming economy, hit supplies to neighbours and rattled Western donors.

This week's failure by African Union head and Ghanaian President John Kufuor to broker a deal dismayed Kenyans enduring one of the worst chapters in their post-independence history.

Former UN head Kofi Annan, another Ghanaian, will now lead a group of eminent Africans in a new push to resolve the crisis.

Mr Annan urged both sides today to work with his panel, which includes Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, and former Tanzanian leader Ben Mkapa.

"We are not going to impose solutions but work together with (Kibaki and Odinga) to arrive at viable and long-lasting solutions to the problem," he told reporters in Accra.

Mr Annan said he hoped to move quickly, but gave no timeframe. ODM said he was due in Nairobi on Tuesday, the same day Kenya's parliament is due to resume.

Analysts say Mr Odinga has lost momentum in recent days as Mr Kibaki entrenches himself by appointing the core of a new cabinet, carrying out state functions and recalling parliament. They say protests look like the only way for the opposition to maintain pressure on Mr Kibaki and resist a de facto solution.

Aides to the 76-year-old president say the opposition's refusal to meet Mr Kibaki shows it is not interested in dialogue. ODM will only attend internationally mediated talks.