Kenya rivals will "cool down" and talk-mediator

By William Maclean

TUNIS (Reuters) - Kenya's political rivals will eventually "cool down" and agree a roadmap for talks to end the country's crisis, an African mediator said on Monday.

Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano told Reuters that once President Mwai Kibaki and his opposition rival Raila Odinga made a joint effort to identify the problems that divided them they would start to find common ground.

"They just need some time to cool down their nerves. I think they will talk and find solutions to their problems," Chissano said in an interview on a visit to Tunisia. "As soon as they start talking they will be able to identify the common ground."

Asked if Kibaki and Odinga could find common ground, Chissano replied: "Yes. They have to identify the problem, because at the time I left (Sunday), they didn't have common views on what the problems are."

"So they have to find a way of starting a dialogue to that end, and map out the road to follow in solving each one of the problems that they will pinpoint in common."

Chissano was speaking on the eve of a visit to Nairobi by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan who was due to start talks with both sides on Tuesday.

Diplomats hope he can bring Kibaki and Odinga into some sort of power-sharing arrangement, possibly before a fresh vote in the east African nation.

About 650 people have been killed in violence since Kibaki's re-election last month and 250,000 displaced in a country that is more used to taking refugees from war-torn Sudan and Somalia.