The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Nairobi

President Mwai Kibaki's appointment of a partial cabinet sparked more violence in Kenya overnight as the African Union began talks on Wednesday to end post-election turmoil that has killed around 500 people.

After a lull in clashes sparked by Kibaki's disputed re-election on December 27, he named 17 ministers late on Tuesday, prompting further protests around east Africa's largest economy.

Kenya's leading newspaper, the Daily Nation, said the appointments -- which included a defeated presidential candidate and several figures hated by the opposition -- may "poison the atmosphere."

"To President Kibaki's supporters, it will be an affirmation of his position," the paper said.

"To everyone else questioning the legitimacy of his presidency t it will be seen as a sign of bad faith ahead of the discussions about to begin."

AU head and Ghanaian President John Kufuor was meeting Kibaki, 76, in the morning, and then planned to speak to his rival, Raila Odinga, 63, who says fraud cost him victory.

The crisis has dented Kenya's reputation for stability in a turbulent corner of Africa, hurt key economic sectors like tourism and tea, and tainted Kibaki's previous reputation as a gentlemanly leader with a penchant for P.G. Wodehouse novels.

International pressure for a negotiated solution is growing.

Washington says the presidential vote count was "obviously flawed" while London calls it "plagued by irregularity."

Possible solutions being touted are a power-sharing arrangement or a fresh election.

Within minutes of the cabinet announcement by Kibaki, who has given TV addresses but not appeared in public since his win, hundreds of rioters built burning barricades and stoned cars in Kisumu, a western stronghold of the opposition.

One man was shot dead and trouble rumbled through the night.