Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan's mediation efforts in Kenya's deadly post-election crisis hit a snag today.
Annan says South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa has withdrawn because of reservations expressed by the government as well as President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity.
It was not clear what effect Ramaphosa's departure would have on the negotiations, although a UN spokesman said talks were continuing without him.
No immediate comment was available from the government or the opposition.
More than 800 people have been killed in violence that has engulfed Kenya since the Dec. 27 election, which narrowly returned Kibaki to power. Opposition, as well as foreign and local observers, say the tally was rigged.
Besides those killed, about 300,000 people have been made homeless by the violence in a country once considered among the most stable in Africa.
Protests have deteriorated in many cases into ethnic clashes, with anger aimed at Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, long resented for dominating politics and the economy.
Representatives of Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed Friday to take immediate action to end the violence and said they would complete talks within 15 days on measures to resolve the political crisis.
Annan said it would take up to a year to solve deeper problems.
Kibaki has accused his opponents of orchestrating the violence. Odinga insists Kibaki step down. But Kibaki has said his position as president is not negotiable.
U.S., British and other officials have suggested the two share power to resolve the crisis.
Ramaphosa said he could not function as mediator "without the complete confidence of both parties.''
"I leave with regret because like any other country in Africa, Kenya is a very special country and I believe that it is important that the people of Kenya should find solutions to their problems,'' he said. "I am confident that they will find those solutions.''
Ethnic fighting continued in western Kenya, scene of some of the worst bloodshed.
At least seven people were killed overnight in battles between Kisii and Kalenjin communities in a region 250 kilometres west of the capital, said Humphrey Nakitare, the district commissioner for the town of Sotik.
Hundreds of youths -- armed with bows and arrows and machetes -- attacked one another Monday in an area where 2,000 people have fled during nine days of clashes, Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Hassan Noor said.
