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Calls for peace in Kenya as rally looms

The crisis engulfing Kenya appears to be deepening with the death toll from violence sparked by election results passing 300.More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes since rioting began when President Mwai Kibaki was returned to power.Britons are being told to cancel any non-essential visits to the country by the Foreign Office.World leaders have strongly condemned the recent wave of political and ethnic violence and urged a return to peace.Prime Minister Gordon Brown was joined by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as well as the United States in calling for an immediate end to violence."I believe there is a responsibility on the part of all the opposition and government leaders in Kenya to call on the supporters to end the violence that is taking place," he said.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a personal appeal to Kenya's political rivals to forge a compromise.Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has accuses Mr Kibaki of "stealing" the East African country's highly contested December 27 election.The violence has shattered Kenya's image as an tourist-friendly oasis of stability in a region that includes war-ravaged Somalia and Sudan.It has also revealed ethnic rivalries under the surface of this regional economic powerhouse.Political tensions have degenerated into explosive ethnic violence, with members of Mr Kibaki's powerful Kikuyu tribe, influential in politics and business, clashing with Mr Odinga's Luos and others.Mr Odinga has vowed to go ahead with a mass protest rally on Thursday that many fear could worsen the bloody wave of violence.The government has banned the march, setting the stage for clashes between security forces and Odinga's supporters.Though both sides say they are ready to talk, the Odinga and Kibaki camps have mostly traded accusations the other is fuelling ethnic violence.© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

ITN | January 3, 2008Watch more videos from ITN

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