Nairobi: Kenya today braced for a final day of nationwide protests over the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, feared to turn violent, as would-be mediators arrived in the country.

Kenyan police violently dispersed rioters yesterday, killing at least five people across the country and wounding several others in the latest post-poll violence that has claimed over 700 lives and displaced some 260,000 people.

But opposition leader Raila Odinga said seven people had been killed in Nairobi alone, mainly in or around the capital's Mathare slum district, a charge police officials dismissed.

"No amount of propaganda will deter the force from executing its legal mandate with a view to providing a secure environment for the full resumption of our country s social and economic activities," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said in a statement.

Nationwide rioting that started after the re-election of Kibaki morphed into tribal killings and looting, mainly in the western regions, with Odinga maintaining he was rigged aside.

African Union chief and Ghana President John Kufuor failed to launch face-to-face talks between the Kenyan foes and instead handed the battered baton to ex-United Nations chief Kofi Annan. Annan, who delayed his Tuesday trip to Kenya over a flu infection, is to lead Graca Machel, the wife of South African former president Nelson Mandela, and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mpaka in trying to mediate.

Machel and Mkapa arrived yesterday, but the government has rejected mediators saying there was crisis in the country, but would welcome facilitators of dialogue.

Source : PTI