BREAKING NEWS Kenya's Kibaki invites rival Odinga for talks

NAIROBI - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has invited his rival Raila Odinga to talks on Friday aimed at ending a political crisis that has killed hundreds.

"President Kibaki has invited ... Odinga for a meeting ... on the stoppage of violence in the country, consolidation of peace and national reconciliation," Kibaki's office said in a statement, adding that the meeting was scheduled for Friday at 2.30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. British time).

The statement said five other members of Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) were also invited to the talks, along with several religious leaders.

ODM officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The east African country has been hit by a wave of demonstrations and tribal clashes since Kibaki's disputed victory in a December 27 election.

The government raised its death toll to nearly 500 and 255,000 displaced on Monday. But Odinga told Reuters in an interview that "closer to a thousand" people might have died.