At least 700 people have been killed and 260,000 have been displaced in Kenya since the disputed presidential election on December 27 provoked rioting and ethnic killings.

Raila Odinga, the leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) who ran against Kibaki in December’s election, alleges that the vote was rigged, thus robbing him of the presidency.

Ethnic violence flared up in Nakuru on Thursday night between gangs armed with machetes, spears and bows and arrows.

Latent ethnic and land disputes have fueled violence between Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe and members of the Luo and Kalenjin ethnic groups, who supported Odinga in the election.

Amid the continuing violence, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, met Odinga on Sunday at a hotel in Nairiobi, on the sixth day of his tour of Kenya.

A day earlier, Annan said he saw “gross and systematic human rights abuses of fellow citizens,” after visits to parts of the Rift Valley.

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