Kenya's feuding political parties have made progress and may reach a breakthrough within days on their major sticking point over a disputed December 27 election, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this afternoon.
"I sincerely hope that we will conclude our work on item three, the settlement of the political issues, by early next week," said Mr Annan, who is mediating the dispute.
"We are all agreed a political settlement is necessary with a little patience and a bit of luck," he added, without giving details on the progress made.
Riots and ethnic attacks have killed more than 1,000 people and uprooted 300,000 since the December 27th polls, shattering Kenya's image as a stable business, tourism and transport hub.
Negotiators for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have already agreed on principles to stem violence and help refugees, but had been stuck this week on the crucial dispute over the tallying of the December ballot.
Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) says Kibaki supporters rigged the vote, but Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) says the opposition cheated in its heartland and points to the election board's announcement Kibaki had won.
Mr Annan has given both sides until mid-February to resolve that issue and then move on to tackle deeper underlying problems like land and wealth inequality within a year.
He dismissed speculation in local media that the parties had reached an agreement on sharing power in a government of national unity. "Please don't pay much attention to the speculations and the rumors," Mr Annan said.