US dismisses Kenyan 'propaganda'

Some 250,000 have fled their homes in the violence

The US ambassador to Kenya has strongly rejected accusations that the international community has been stirring up post-election violence.

Michael Ranneberger said government adverts which have appeared over the past week in local newspapers were "scurrilous propaganda".

He said that condemning electoral fraud was not an incitement to violence.

Former UN chief Kofi Annan is due to arrive in Kenya later to mediate in the crisis which has left 650 people dead.

President Yoweri Museveni of Kenya's neighbour Uganda has also arrived in Nairobi to hold talks with President Mwai Kibaki.

It is irresponsible to say, as the advertisement does, that speaking the truth provides incitement to ethnic violence Michael Ranneberger US ambassador to Kenya

In the capital, Nairobi, police have fired tear gas to disperse a small group of Mr Kibaki's supporters.

They had banners with the president's face and slogans which read "Respect Kibaki".

The police have banned all public demonstrations since the elections.

Most have been by the opposition, who say their candidate Raila Odinga was cheated of victory.

Meanwhile, all trains from East Africa's main port Mombasa to Uganda and on to South Sudan and eastern DR Congo have been blocked since Friday, when opposition supporters tore up the railway in Nairobi's Kibera slum.

Rift Valley Railways managing director Roy Puffet said 18 train containers of cargo and fuel were trapped, reports Uganda's New Vision newspaper.

Work has started to repair the track and officials say it should be open again by the end of the week.

'Evidence'

In his statement, Mr Ranneberger said he did not think Mr Kibaki was behind the adverts, which were placed by the office of public communications.

"It is irresponsible to say, as the advertisement does, that speaking the truth provides incitement to ethnic violence.

The advert was aimed at the opposition and western diplomats

"There is compelling evidence of serious irregularities in the vote-tallying from a wide variety of non-partisan sources," he said.

The advert asked for evidence of electoral fraud and questioned why western diplomats had not called for an international inquiry into the killings.

"Kenyans have been killed because of their ethnicity and political beliefs. It is shocking that you have been silent on this," it said.

Members of Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu community have often been targeted by opposition supporters.

On Monday, the British ambassador to Kenya was summoned to explain remarks by a junior UK minister, suggesting that the former colonial power did not recognise Mr Kibaki as president.

"Our elections do not need a stamp of authority from the House of Commons," Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula.

On Monday, Mr Odinga said he would only meet President Kibaki if Kofi Annan joined them.

Mr Kibaki has rejected opposition calls for a recount of the elections or fresh polls.

As well as those killed, some 250,000 people have fled their homes because of the violence across the country.