NAKURU, Kenya, 26 January 2008 - Ethnic fighting killed at least 12 people in Kenya's Rift Valley and uprooted thousands more yesterday, undermining hopes of an end to weeks of unrest.

The violence, and a denial by opposition leader Raila Odinga that he would agree to serve as prime minister under President Mwai Kibaki, followed the first meeting between the two rivals since a disputed Dec. 27 election triggered a political crisis.

"Nakuru town has been shut down . . . hundreds are injured," Kenya Red Cross head Abbas Gullet said.

About 700 people have died in violence since Kibaki was reelected in balloting that observers said was flawed and Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement said was rigged. The turmoil also has made 250,000 people homeless and damaged one of Africa's most promising economies.

Hopes for a solution had grown on Thursday after former UN boss Kofi Annan brought Odinga and Kibaki together for their first discussions on how to end the standoff. But their smiles and handshake were quickly followed by new accusations, with the opposition angered by Kibaki's reference to himself as the country's "duly-elected" leader.

Yesterday, Odinga urged the African Union to avoid endorsing Kibaki's reelection at a planned summit in Ethiopia.

Fresh violence broke out in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, where soldiers cleared burning barricades as houses smoldered and the sound of gunshots filled the air. Terrified residents sought shelter in churches, police stations, and at the prison while smoke rose from torched homes in nearby villages. Local authorities imposed a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, and as dusk fell the streets were deserted.

The fighting had pitted members of Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group against Luos and Kalenjins, seen as pro-opposition.

At the United Nations yesterday, Kenyan civic leaders said the Security Council should do something about the crisis in Kenya, because the violence threatens to destabilize the entire region.

Maina Kiai, head of the Kenyan government's human rights watchdog, told reporters the crisis could destabilize Uganda, Somalia, southern Sudan, and other countries in the region.

"Even discussion of this issue at the Security Council would have a very powerful message," he told a news conference organized by the Open Society Institute, a civil society foundation established by investor George Soros.

Source: Reuters