Kenya's feuding parties face parliamentary showdown

By Katie Nguyen

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki is likely to face his main political rival for the first time since disputed polls cast their country into chaos when the newly elected parliament sits on Tuesday.

Both Kibaki, 76, and Raila Odinga, 63, are due to be sworn in as legislators in a session sure to be charged with acrimony over the December 27 vote which the opposition says was rigged. The two men have not met since Kibaki's disputed re-election.

A wave of post-election violence killed more than 600 people, tarnished the nation's democratic credentials, dented economic growth and shocked world powers and Kenyans alike.

The European Union's top aid official said on Monday the EU was considering cutting its aid to Kenya.

Another EU official said the 27-nation bloc, one of Kenya's top donors, was considering suspending all aid and imposing sanctions if mediation efforts to resolve the crisis failed.

The crisis has prompted a flurry of international reconciliation attempts, with former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan leading the latest push for a solution.

But a senior cabinet minister and close Kibaki ally has already rejected Annan's mission, casting a cloud over the veteran diplomat's expected arrival on Tuesday.

Western governments, including Britain and the United States, say the presidential vote was flawed. But election observers essentially gave the parliamentary ballot, held the same day, a clean bill of health.