The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Nairobi

UN agencies have expressed increasing concern for the plight of up to 250,000 Kenyans displaced by post-election violence, as international diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis continued.

A statement from the United Nations released Friday said an estimated 250,000 had been displaced by the unrest, with between 400,000 and 500,000 affected by the conflict.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that at least 100,000 people in the northern Rift Valley alone needed immediate help.

Many were stranded without food, water or shelter and other essentials, it said in a statement.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) were working with the Kenyan Red Cross Society to bring urgent supplies to those most vulnerable.

Local aid workers expessed fear at an outbreak of diseases in make-shift camps in schools, hospitals and churches, most of which were still out of reach owing to their inaccessibility or safety concerns.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon meanwhile held separate phone conversations with President Mwai Kibaki and the main opposition leader Raila Odinga, his spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters.

"In both conversations, he discussed the return to calm and normalcy in Kenya and humanitarian needs (and) called upon the political leaders to resolve their issues through dialogue," she said.

For the second day running, a massive police presence prevented opposition demonstrators, who are calling for a re-run of the presidential election, from gathering in Nairobi.