A woman runs away as a mob mainly from the Luo tribe searches a bus for Kikuyus in Kisumu, Kenya, yesterday, following the shooting of Kenyan opposition lawmaker David Too by a police officer in Eldoret. Within minutes of the news reaching the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, gangs of men armed themselves with machetes, set up burning barricades, businesses shut down and workers began to flee from the town centre. - AP

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP):

Africa is facing a genocide in Kenya and must make resolving the crisis a priority, the head of the African Union told the continent's leaders among them the Kenyan president at yesterday's opening of a three-day summit.

"Kenya is a country that was a hope for the continent," African Union chairman Alpha Konare said. "Today, if you look at Kenya you see violence on the streets. We are even talking about ethnic cleansing, We are even talking about genocide. We cannot sit with our hands folded."

The violence not genocide

Others have said that while Kenya is in crisis, the violence is not genocide.

"If Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow," Konare said.

More than 800 people have been killed across Kenya and tens of thousands have fled their homes since a December 27 vote. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki is accused of stealing. Much of the violence has pitted other ethnic groups against Kibaki's Kikuyu.

Kibaki listened to Konare yesterday from the front row, among about 40 heads of state meeting in the Ethiopian capital. World Bank President Robert Zoellick and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also were in attendance.

Ban said he planned to meet Kibaki on sidelines of the summit and travel to the Kenyan capital Friday to meet Kenyan Opposition Leader Raila Odinga.

"I call on the Kenyan people, stop the killings and end the violence now before it's too late,'' Ban said.

The Kenyan opposition had called on the AU to bar Kibaki, saying he stole the December 27 election, and international diplomats had suggested his time might be better spent at home negotiating with Odinga.

Uncharacteristic

It would have been uncharacteristic of the AU to bar a duly sworn in leader. Kibaki was not the only president at the summit whose mandate has been questioned. And Kibaki has said repeatedly he believed he was Kenya's legitimately elected president, and the trip to the summit was just one of several steps he has taken to underline that, including naming key Cabinet ministers.