(AFP) – Jan 1, 2008

NAIROBI (AFP) — Kenya's attorney general called Thursday for an independent probe into last week's presidential election after police used tear gas and water cannon to stop a planned "million-man" protest against the poll result.

The proposal came amid mounting diplomatic pressure for Kenya's rival political leaders to get together and seek an end to days of post-election violence that has claimed nearly 350 lives and displaced tens of thousands.

"It is necessary... that a proper tally of the valid certificates returned and confirmed should be undertaken immediately on a priority basis by an agreed and independent person or body," Attorney General Amos Wako said.

Wako stressed, however, that the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, who was sworn in on Sunday, could only be nullified by the constitutional court.

Kibaki's defeated challenger, opposition leader Raila Odinga, has rejected the ballot result, accused the president of rigging the count and refused to negotiate until Kibaki steps down.

In order to press his case, Odinga had called for a million of his supporters to turn out Thursday for a mass rally in Nairobi at which he planned to declare himself the "people's president".

The event was eventually postponed after huge numbers of paramilitary police firing tear gas and warning shots dispersed protesters gathered at the site and prevented thousands of others from getting there.

The organisers pledged to try again on January 8.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a joint call Thursday for the creation of a Kenyan coalition government.

The pair, who spoke by phone, "agreed the focus should be on pressing the parties to agree on setting up a coalition government," a Solana spokeswoman told AFP.

Solana and Rice also discussed sending EU and US envoys to convince Kibaki and Odinga to negotiate, but no decision was taken, she added.

The government has welcomed a dialogue, but argued that outside mediation would be premature.

"Kenya is not at war and does not need mediators or peacekeepers," government spokesman Alfred Mutua said.

The chairman of the African Union, John Kufuor, had been expected here later Thursday to spearhead a mediation effort with the head of the Commonwealth observer mission in Kenya, Sierra Leonean former president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.

But officials said the trip had been cancelled.

"President Kufuor is no longer coming," Commonwealth spokesman Julius Mucunguzi told AFP.

South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu arrived on Wednesday in an apparent bid to persuade Kibaki and Odinga to sit down together.

The two men belong to different tribes and much of the violence has run along tribal lines with both sides trading accusations of inciting acts of ethnic cleansing.

The death toll since election day stood at 346, according to a tally compiled by AFP from medical workers, police officials and mortuary attendants across the country.

Masses of police waded in violently to foil Odinga's rally, driving his supporters back into the slum areas where the opposition leader's popularity is strongest.

"There will be no peace. This is revolution", said Paul Onyango Sati, a 29-year-old unemployed resident of Kibera, the capital's largest slum.

In the western city of Kisumu, another opposition stronghold, police said they had arrested two opposition lawmakers mobilising youths to stage a banned protest there.

Former president Daniel arap Moi said Wednesday the unrest had sown irreversible animosity among the 40-plus ethnic groups in Kenya, which was until now considered a beacon of democracy and stability in the restive region.

Kenyan Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai, in an emotional televised message, also pleaded for talks and peace, while Kenya's two leading dailies had the same headline Thursday: "Save Our Beloved Country".

Meanwhile, Kenya's Red Cross appealed for emergency funds of 7.5 million dollars to help 100,000 people displaced by the violence.

The unrest has prompted many foreign tour operators to suspend trips to Kenya, depriving the country of a major source of revenue.

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