The chief of the African Union met separately with Kenya's president and opposition leader Wednesday as Kenyans continued to flee election-related violence that has gripped the country for close to two weeks.

The chairman of the African Union, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, left, with Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga, right, arrive for their meeting at an hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday.
(Sayyid Azim/Associated Press)

John Kufuor first met with met President Mwai Kibaki, whose disputed election sparked opposition anger and demonstrations across the country that have led to the deaths of between 500 and 1,000 people.

He later met with opposition leader Raila Odinga at a hotel in Nairobi.

Kibaki's office issued a statement following his meeting with Kufour, saying the president would initiate talks, said Reuters.

"Now that peace was returning to these parts, his partially formed government would continue to reach out to Kenyan leaders who would also be encouraged to play their role in preaching peace among their followers," the statement said.

A man moves his belongings while leaving his neighborhood in Kisumu, western Kenya, on Wednesday.
(Darko Bandic/Assocaited Press)

Supporters of Kibaki and Odinga claim the Dec. 27 vote was rigged, leaving the two leaders locked in a standoff. Kufuor travelled to Kenya to mediate, an effort supported by the U.S. and Britain.

Odinga has rejected Kibaki's offer to talk, calling it "public relations gimmickry."

Opposition anger escalated Tuesday after Kibaki gave half the government cabinet positions to members of his own party and loyalists.

Late Tuesday, the government issued a statement saying there was room in the remainder of the cabinet for opposition party members.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki greets displaced Kenyans living in a makeshift camp in the town of Burnt Forest on Wednesday.
(Ben Curtis/Associated Press)

The country's main newspaper, the Daily Nation, said the cabinet postings could "poison the atmosphere" and would be seen as a "sign of bad faith" in any upcoming talks.

Violence in Kisumu

Opposition anger remained high in the western town of Kisumu Wednesday as hundreds of Kenyans tried to flee.

Seven buses and two dozen cars overloaded with people waited for a police escort to try to reach Nairobi. On the road to the capital, dozens of angry people brandishing sticks burned tires to block the route. "If elections fail, violence prevails!" they shouted.

The town, an opposition hotbed, erupted in violence a day earlier, hours after the cabinet appointments were made. Police fired guns over the heads of youths who set up a roadblock of burning tires.

Barricades remained in parts of Kisumu Wednesday, said CBC correspondent David McGuffin, who was in the region.

"There are a lot of angry-looking young men here," said McGuffin.

As many as 250,000 people have been displaced by the violence, crowding into makeshift camps, including the region around Eldorat, a town which is one of the worst affected by the violence.

McGuffin, who was in Eldorat earlier Wednesday, said Kenyans were still "pouring into" refugee camps.

Kibaki was expected to take the AU chief to Eldorat later in the day.

According to a Kenyan government website, Kibaki won 4,584,721 votes, or 47 per cent of the ballots cast, against Odinga's 4,352,993, or 44 per cent.

However, in parliamentary elections held the same day as the presidential vote, Odinga's party won 95 parliamentary seats to Kibaki's 43.