Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki offered to talk to political rivals on Thursday as corpses lay in streets and smoke billowed from burning slums after a day of battles between police and anti-government protesters. "I am ready to have dialogue with the concerned parties once the nation is calm," Kibaki said, striking a more conciliatory note than his supporters' recent rhetoric.
A week of bloodshed since a December 27th election has killed more than 300 people and threatens to wreck Kenya's reputation as one of Africa's most promising democracies and strongest economies.
"I am deeply disturbed by the senseless violence instigated by some leaders," Mr Kibaki told reporters on the lawn of his residence. "Those who continue to violate the law will face its full force."
US President George W Bush urged Kenyans to refrain from further violence and called on Kibaki and opposition leader Ralia Odinga to "come together" to resolve the dispute.
"It's very important for the people of Kenya to not resort to violence," Mr Bush said.
Asked whether Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga should share power, Bush said, "I believe that they have an opportunity to come together in some kind of arrangement that will help heal the wounds of a closely divided election."
The European Union urged them to form a coalition government.
Kenyan police use teargas and water cannons against several hundred protesters in Nairobi
Attorney general Amos Wako warned the country was "quickly degenerating into a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions" and said an independent person or body should carry out "a proper tally" of votes from the December 27th poll.
"Such an exercise will go a long way in assuaging the inflamed passions of people," Mr Wako said.
But he added that while the tally should help political mediation, only a court could overturn Mr Kibaki's win.
After hours of police clashes with thousands of protesters trying to reach central Nairobi, the opposition called off a planned demonstration in Uhuru (Freedom) Park, in the interest of public safety. Another protest was scheduled for next Tuesday.
Currency and stock trading was halted today, with the Kenyan shilling and share prices both down about 5 per cent since the troubles began. Tea and coffee auctions were delayed.
The World Bank said the violence could threaten Kenya's impressive economic gains and harm neighbouring countries that depend on it as a business hub.
The daily violence has shocked world leaders and choked supplies of fuel and other goods to a swathe of central Africa.
Pro-Kibaki legislators called for opposition leader Raila Odinga and others to be charged by the International Criminal Court for "ethnic cleansing and genocide".
The opposition has charged that a police order to shoot during protests was "bordering on genocide".
Mr Odinga called Mr Kibaki a thief who had carried out a civilian coup. But he said he would accept international mediation and proposed setting up an interim power-sharing government to prepare for a re-run of the vote.