President Kufuor in Kenya

... Mission Impossible?
... Kibaki Names Cabinent
President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the African Union (AU) has arrived in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday evening to help in the search for a solution to the electoral impasse that has resulted in violent clashes killing over 300 people and displacing more than half a million others.

The President is in Kenya at the invitation of President Mwai Kibaki to join the international effort to restore Kenya back to the path of peace and tranquillity.

PICTURE: Kufuor stands next to Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki upon his arrival at the airport in Nairobi.

Kufuor was met on arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by the beleagued Kenyan President, Mr. Kibaki and several members of his newly formed Government.

Meanwhile, Raila Odinga, the leader of Kenya's opposition Orange Democratic Movement, has turned down talks with Kibaki.

The decision on Tuesday came 24 hours after Odinga had agreed to meet Kibaki, folllowing pressure from Jendayi Frazer, Washington's most senior diplomat for African affairs.

Kibaki, appointed half his cabinet just minutes before Kufuor landed in Nairobi, enraging the opposition and ending hopes of a swift end to the country's political and social crisis.

Angry protests immediately broke out in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu and in Nairobi's slums, where hundreds of people have already been killed in the violence that followed a perceived stolen election.

Western diplomats, who on Monday had persuaded the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, to call off his campaign of mass action, were angered by Kibaki's decision to fill all the key ministries as peace talks were about to begin.

President Kufuor leaves for Kenya

Accra, Jan. 8, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra this morning for Kenya at the invitation of President Mwai Kibaki as part of an international effort to end the post elections violence in that country.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Akwasi Osei Agyei and other government officials accompanied President Kufuor.
President Kufuor is expected to extract from both President Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga an unconditional commitment to dialogue and the use of constitutional means to resolve the electoral impasse in that country.
A statement signed by Mr. Andrew Awuni, presidential spokesperson said President Kibaki's special envoy to President Kufuor at the weakened indicated President Kibaki's willingness to dialogue and also to partake in the formation of a government of national unity.
At the airport to see him off were Ministers of State, Government Officials, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt-Gen. J. B. Danquah and other senior Military and Police personnel. The president is expected back on Thursday.