Kofi Annan to chair Kenyan talks

KENYA’S rival leaders have agreed to work with a mediation panel led by former UN chief Kofi Annan to end a political crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives, said the head of the African Union yesterday.

“The parties agreed to work together with a panel of eminent African personalities headed by Mr Kofi Annan... towards resolving their differences and all other outstanding issues,” said African Union chief and Ghanaian President John Kufuor.

However, a Kenyan foreign ministry official cast doubts on the prospects of a resolution, saying Mr Kufuor’s talks with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga had “failed to end the deadlock” between the two men.