Kenya's opposition party called on Friday for a rerun of the disputed presidential election that has sparked deadly clashes across the country, but a government spokesman said orders must come from the top court.

Residents of the Mathare slum in Nairobi stand near a poster of presidential candidate Raila Odinga on Friday.
(Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

"As long as the due process of law is followed and the constitution is respected, the president will obey," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told The Associated Press, but added he doubts the constitution allows for a new vote.

Kenya's Supreme Court, largely appointed by President Mwai Kibaki, has not yet weighed in on Kibaki's re-election on Dec. 27.

Anyang Nyongo, secretary-general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, said the country should ready "for a new election of the president.

"This is about a democracy and justice," Nyongo said. "We shall continue to defend and promote the right of Kenyans so that the democratic process should be fulfilled."

But after separate meetings with opposition party leader Raila Odinga and the president, South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu said both "indicated they are open to the possibilities of negotiations," adding "there is a great deal of hope."

Protesters gather in tourist city

A mass protest planned by opposition leaders in Nairobi's Uhuru park fizzled on Friday, but about 1,500 protesters gathered in Mombasa, a coastal city heavily reliant on tourism.

Police used tear gas to scatter the demonstrators who were shouting "Kibaki has stolen our vote!" There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Opposition leaders vowed to continue attempts to hold a rally in the Nairobi's Uhuru park after hundreds of protesters at Thursday's planned march were met with tear gas and water cannons.

The rally, a show of defiance against the president, was postponed until Friday by Odinga over safety concerns. 

By midday there was still no sign of a mass protest brewing, though small groups of protesters gathered in the slums saying they were readying for a rally.

The dispute over Kibaki's re-election has triggered deadly clashes between party supporters that have claimed the lives of more than 300 people over the past week, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the International Federation for Human Rights.

International observers cited numerous irregularities in the vote, while Kenya's attorney general has called for an independent body to verify the vote tally in the disputed election.

Vote likely rigged, says French foreign minister

Following the opposition's announcement to postpone the protests, Kibaki said he was ready for talks with opposition leaders, saying he'll engage in dialogue "once the nation is calm."

Meanwhile Friday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner gave the strongest condemnation of the disputed vote, saying he believed it was rigged.

"Were the elections rigged or not? I think so, many think so, the Americans think so, the British think so, and they know the country well," Reuters quoted Kouchner as saying in an interview with French radio.

Some 100,000 people have been displaced during the riots and clashes that followed Kibaki's swearing-in ceremony on Sunday. Moments after the ceremony, riots broke out in the slums around the capital and in the western provinces, considered the heartland of opposition support.

Both sides have accused each other of genocide as members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe and Odinga's Luos have been targeted in the violence.

Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, religious or national group.  

With files from the Associated Press