Post-election violence so far has killed an estimated 650 people [AFP]

Police recovered the bodies in Nairobi's Mathare slum on Sunday after overnight clashes between gangs brought to 40 the number of people killed in ethnic violence since Kenya's December 27 presidential election.
 
"Members of one community started terrorising members of the rival community. One person was hacked to death, and this morning we recovered another body," a police commander said.
 
Renewed violence continued in Mathare on Sunday, with homes set ablaze.
 
Fighting erupted after members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe started to evict of those of Kenya's Luo tribe, linked to supporting opposition party chief, Raila Odinga.

Kenya's opposition has said it intends to resume protests over the country's presidential  election which it claims was rigged by the government.

The declaration came as five people were killed in the Rift Valley region on Saturday.

"We are resuming our peaceful public rallies on Thursday," Henry Kosgey, the chairman of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), told reporters.

The violence so far has killed an estimated 650 people.

Protest crackdown

Three days of opposition protests that began on Wednesday, despite a government ban, provoked a fierce crackdown by anti-riot and paramilitary police.

Calm has returned in several towns across the country that were hit by rioting.

Both ODM and the government have accused each other of inciting genocide.
 
Odinga says Kibaki stole the closest-ever election in the east African country.
 
International observers say the count was so chaotic it was impossible to tell who won, and the government says the ODM also rigged votes.

On Friday, Michael Ranneberger, US ambassador in Kenya, said there had been "a lot of cheating on both sides".
 
The resulting protests have led Kenya's international financial donors to threaten aid cuts after images of police shooting and beating protesters drew widespread criticism.

Ceasefire call
 
But the government has rebuffed the threat.
 
Both Kibaki and Odinga have agreed in principle to talks, but Kibaki has said he wants direct talks with Odinga, while the opposition leader says he will negotiate only through a mediator who can provide an internationally guaranteed agreement.

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, is due to arrive in Kenya this week to bring the two parties together for talks.

Louis Michel, the European Union's aid commissioner, who met with Kibaki and Odinga, urged both sides to start talks to end their standoff.
 
"Mass meetings that can lead to aggression which can also lead to powerful responses.
 
"I urge the parties to look for a solution. Now is the time for ceasefire," he told reporters after meeting with the two leaders.

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