The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Nairobi

Some 486 people have died in the explosion of violence following Kenya's disputed presidential election, a government official said Monday.

Earlier estimates said some 300 people had died.

The latest figures came as Kenya's embattled government urged the opposition to call off planned protest rallies Tuesday, which have raised fears of renewed bloodletting. Meanwhile, a U.S. envoy embarked on a final round of talks to help resolve the deadly dispute over the elections.

The death toll was compiled by a special committee of humanitarian services set up by the government which extensively toured areas most affected by the riots and protests that followed the announcement that incumbent President Mwai Kibaki had narrowly won the Dec. 27 vote.

A statement from the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Special Programs, Rachel Arunga, put the toll at 486 dead with some 255,000 people displaced from their homes.

U.S. envoy Jendayi Frazer was to meet again Monday with Kenya's opposition leader, who has signaled he is willing to share power with the government he accuses of rigging elections but at the same time called for mass rallies - a move that threatens renewed bloodletting.

Frazer, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, has won an offer from embattled President Mwai Kibaki to form a coalition government and a concession from opposition leader Raila Odinga that he would negotiate without preconditions.

Frazer planned to meet Odinga Monday morning, the last day of a three-day mission, U.S. Embassy spokesman T.J. Dowling told The Associated Press.