Ghanaian President John Kufuor, the head of the African Union, was due to arrive in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on Wednesday to act as a mediator, an AU spokeswoman told AP.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Milliband have also appealed for calm while expressing concern at "serious irregularities in the counting process."
"We call on all political leaders to engage in a spirit of compromise that puts the democratic interests of Kenya first... and we pledge the diplomatic and political efforts of our two countries to support reconciliation and national unity at this vital time for Kenya and the region," the statement said.
Much of the violence is between supporters of Kibaki, from the majority Kikuyu tribe, and backers of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who is from the Luo tribe.
The ethnic violence, previously rare in Kenya, is reminiscent of the strife that led to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
In a particularly disturbing incident, a mob appears to have burned a church filled with Kenyans seeking refuge from the violence in the city of Eldoret in the country's western Rift Valley region.
The Red Cross told AP that at least 50 were burned to death at the church, some of them children.
As many as 200 people were at the church, about 185 miles northwest of Nairobi, KTN reporter Tony Biwott told CNN. Watch as machete-wielding looters haul away goods »
Biwott said he had counted at least 15 charred bodies, including children, in the burned church and an adjacent field. "I'm sure there were more than 15 but I couldn't count the ones who were ashes," he said in a phone interview.
The wounded sustained gunshot wounds, burns and cuts from a panga, a machete-like weapon, the Red Cross said. Watch smoke darken skies near a burned church »
Kenya's national police commissioner has said an investigation into the incident is under way and expressed shock that the violence had occurred in a church.
Jane Samuels, an American volunteer worker based in a village near the western city of Kisumu told CNN she had been stranded in a hotel for two days as police clashed with rioters on the streets before finally catching a flight out of the country via Nairobi.
"I dont know what will happen, its still volatile there right now," Samuels said.
Police and political backers of opposition leader Odinga began clashing about four days ago as Odinga narrowly lost Kenya's presidential election to Kibaki.
source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/01/02/kenya.unrest/index.html