NAIROBI, Kenya - Police fired tear gas Tuesday to disperse dozens of supporters of President Mwai Kibaki, hours before former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was due in Kenya to mediate the deadly dispute over Kibaki's re-election.
"Kibaki is our president!'' the supporters shouted in downtown Nairobi before riot police broke up the gathering.
The Dec. 27 election returned Kibaki to power for a second five-year term, with official results putting opposition leader Raila Odinga second in the closest presidential race in Kenya's history. Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing the vote, and protests exploded into riots and ethnic fighting that killed more than 600 people.
Foreign and local election observers have said the vote count was deeply flawed. Although the electoral chief pronounced Kibaki the victor, he later said he had been pressured to do so and did not know who won.
Efforts at international mediation so far have failed.
Annan was due to arrive late Tuesday to try to bring the two sides together, as U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger urged a political settlement.
"The tragedy Kenya is now suffering, and the extremely bitter polarization of Kenyan society, demands that all leaders and institutions speak in a responsible, respectful and dignified tone,'' Ranneberger said in a statement.
The election has tapped into resentments that resurface regularly at election time in Kenya. But never before has the anger been so prolonged or taken so many lives.
As Kibaki's power becomes more entrenched each day, the opposition's best hope may rest in working out a power-sharing agreement that could make Odinga prime minister or vice president.
Odinga has called for another "peaceful protest'' on Thursday, saying, "let them bring their guns and we will face them.''
The protest will take place in defiance of a ban and despite the deaths of at least 24 people in three days of protests last week -- most blamed on police.
Odinga also has urged supporters to boycott companies owned by Kibaki allies, including Equity Bank and bus companies CityHoppa and Kenya Bus. On Monday, the government condemned the economic boycott as sabotage.
