Kenya's President, Opposition Leader Hold Closed-Door Talks

The two rivals in Kenya's political crisis met on Thursday for the first time since a disputed election and pledged to seek an end to weeks of unrest that have killed nearly 700 people. President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga shook hands and smiled after the closed-door talks, brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan. Both vowed to continue talks until a solution was found. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Nairobi has this report.

One of the authors of the rights group's report, Ben Rawlence, tells VOA there is no evidence directly linking top opposition politicians to the violence in the Rift Valley.  But he says he believes the party's leadership did not do enough to stop ODM leaders at the grassroots level from carrying out their plans.

"In western Kenya, everybody who is anybody is essentially ODM, because political and community structures pretty much overlap," he explained.  "The people were primed before the elections with a lot of incitement, a lot of very dubious radio rhetoric and rhetoric during political rallies and campaigning so that a lot of people we spoke to said, 'If Kibaki wins, it is war, no matter how Kibaki won.' So, there already was a sense that they were going to deal with the Kikuyus one way or another."

Human Rights Watch says a quick political settlement is necessary to stop the ethnic violence, but warns it could take decades to reconcile the tribes.