The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Nairobi

Former UN chief Kofi Annan hopes Kenya's bitterly divided leaders will sign a deal next week after taking the "last difficult and frightening step" toward a power-sharing government. Annan said Friday at the end of a third week of tough negotiations that a deal was "very close" to end weeks of turmoil that have left more than 1,000 people dead since the disputed December 27 presidential election. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives Monday in Nairobi to shore up Annan's effort to negotiate a deal between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga on the makeup of a new government. In meetings with the two leaders, Rice has been asked by US President George W. Bush to deliver a message that "there must be a full return to democracy" in Kenya. Bush arrived in Benin on Saturday, his first stop on his Africa tour, before traveling to Tanzania, Kenya's neighbour which currently holds the presidency of the African Union. He then goes to Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.