Annan: Kenya rivals closer to agreement

By Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's feuding parties moved closer at talks this week but are yet to agree terms for power-sharing to end a post-election crisis that has killed more than 1,000 people, mediator Kofi Annan said on Friday.

"We are at the water's edge and the last difficult and frightening step ... will be taken," he told reporters, even though negotiators missed his target of a final deal this week.

"The momentum is with us."

The former U.N. chief is trying to end turmoil over the disputed Dec. 27 election that has also uprooted 300,000 people and given Kenya its darkest episode since independence in 1963.

He said considerable progress was made this week, including agreement for an independent review of the polls, after he whisked officials from both sides to a secluded safari lodge.

Annan said it was essential they also form a "broad coalition" to push through constitutional and electoral reforms seen as crucial to preventing future chaos.

He will meet President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday -- when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is also due in Kenya to support his mediation -- before negotiations resume on Tuesday.

Elation a week ago when it became clear the rivals had agreed in principle to some form of power-sharing has dampened in the absence of any concrete progress on the details.