Kenya's rival leaders agreed on Thursday to work with a mediation panel led by former UN chief Kofi Annan to end a political crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives, the head of the African Union said.
"The parties agreed to work together with a Panel of Eminent African Personalities headed by Mr Kofi Annan ... towards resolving their differences and all other outstanding issues," AU chief and Ghanaian President John Kufuor said in a statement. However, a Kenyan foreign ministry official cast doubts on the prospects of a resolution, saying Kufuor's talks here with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga had "failed to end the deadlock" between the two men.