BREAKING NEWS Kenya's Kibaki accuses rival of 'ethnic cleansing'

A man is beaten by mob while a minibus driver lies unconscious in front of his vandalised vehicle in Nairobi yesterday

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's government accused political rival Raila Odinga today of total responsibility for an explosion of tribal violence over a disputed presidential poll that threatens to tear the country apart.

"It has been one-way all the way. It is basically Raila Odinga-led ethnic cleansing of the Kikuyu (tribe),", government spokesman Alfred Matua told the BBC as the death toll from four days of clashes in the East African country neared 250.

Supporters of Mr Odinga, who comes from the Luo tribe, have in turn made ethnic cleansing charges against Mr Kibaki, whose Kikuyu tribe has long dominated political and business life in Kenya, East Africa's biggest economy.

Young men armed with machetes manned roadblocks today, hours after about 30 Kikuyus were burned alive when a mob set fire to a church where they were hiding near the western town of Eldoret.

Western powers have called for calm and warned citizens against visiting a popular tourist destination that was regarded as one of the most stable democracies on a volatile continent.

African Union chairman John Kufuor is due in Kenya today to try and start what British prime minister Gordon Brown called a process of dialogue and reconciliation. Britain has called on the African Union and Commonwealth to try to reconcile Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga, whose parties both accuse the other of vote-rigging during the December 27th election.

Mr Kibaki was sworn in on Sunday after official election results showed he had narrowly beaten Mr Odinga. The EU's observer mission said the poll had "fallen short of key international and regional standards for democratic elections".

The United States first congratulated Mr Kibaki, then switched to expressing "concerns about irregularities".