Former UN chief Kofi Annan said Kenya's feuding politicians had agreed a roadmap this evening to end more than a month of bloodshed, but his efforts to heal deep ethnic divisions hit a setback as a top mediator quit.
Mr Annan said Kenya's rivals had agreed immediate steps to help those displaced by violence which has killed 900 people and said they would tomorrow begin negotiating an end to the political standoff over President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election.
"We have completed work on the agenda, the roadmap," Mr Annan, flanked by government and opposition representatives, told a news conference. "Today we dealt with the humanitarian issues ... Tomorrow we begin our work on the political issues."
Mr Annan on Friday gave the two sides 15 days to halt the violence and said they would then tackle a longer term solution to the ethnic divisions laid bare by a crisis that has knocked Kenya's image as a stable and prosperous African state.
But Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African business tycoon Annan selected to head those longer-term negotiations, pulled out today after government complaints that he had business links to opposition leader Raila Odinga.
"I thought I should withdraw and go back to South Africa so I don't become a stumbling block myself," said Ramaphosa, the chief negotiator for South Africa's African National Congress in talks that produced a peaceful end to apartheid in 1994.
He denied having business links with the opposition.
Underscoring the challenge for mediators, Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga have continued to trade harsh words, accusing each other of trying to sabotage talks. Clashes between groups of youths backing one side or the other raged over the weekend.
Mr Kibaki says he won the vote fairly and squarely and accuses Mr Odinga of fanning violence. Mr Odinga says Mr Kibaki stole victory and refuses to recognise him as president.