AU leader: Kenya a priority for Africa

Africa cannot thrive unless Kenya does, so Africans must make solving its crisis a priority, the head of the African Union told the continent's leaders — among them the Kenyan president — at Thursday's opening of a three-day summit.

"Kenya is a country that was a hope for the continent," African Union chairman Alpha Konare said. "Today, if you look at Kenya you see violence on the streets. We are even talking about ethnic cleansing, We are even talking about genocide. We cannot sit with our hands folded."

Others have said that while Kenya is in crisis, the violence is not genocide.

"If Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow," Konare said.

More than 800 people have been killed across Kenya and tens of thousands have fled their homes since a Dec. 27 vote Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki is accused of stealing. Much of the violence has pitted other ethnic groups against Kibaki's Kikuyu.

Kibaki listened to Konare Thursday from the front row, among about 40 heads of state meeting in the Ethiopian capital. World Bank President Robert Zoellick and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also were in attendance.

Ban said he planned to meet Kibaki on sidelines of the summit and travel to the Kenyan capital Friday to meet Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga.

"I call on the Kenyan people, stop the killings and end the violence now before it's too late," Ban said.

The Kenyan opposition had called on the AU to bar Kibaki, saying he stole the Dec. 27 election, and international diplomats had suggested his time might be better spent at home negotiating with Odinga.

It would have been uncharacteristic of the AU to bar a duly sworn in leader — Kibaki was not the only president at the summit whose mandate has been questioned. And Kibaki has said repeatedly he believes he is Kenya's legitimately elected president, and the trip to the summit was just one of several steps he has taken to underline that, including naming key Cabinet ministers.

"Today the burning issue which is on your agenda is the problem in Kenya," Konare said.

Konare reiterated the AU's hope former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's mediation efforts in Kenya would be successful.

Kenya was not the only challenge facing African leaders in Addis Ababa. Leaders and international diplomats plan to address issues surrounding peacekeeping operations in Sudan's Darfur and Somalia, along with upcoming elections in Zimbabwe, which is mired in political and economic crises.

The African Union was established in 1999, supplanting the Organization of African Unity. Today's African Union has peacekeeping activities, social and economic projects and considers itself the arbiter of African governance. This year, a new chairman will be named to replace Konare, who has served as the AU's top operational official since 2003.

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Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt contributed to this report.