(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-10 10:49

NAIROBI - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki Saturday expressed satisfaction that the mediation talks spearheaded by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan are going on well.

Speaking in Nairobi during a meeting with visiting Ugandan Deputy Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya, Kibaki exuded confidence that a sustainable solution to the current political situation in the country would be found.

Kibaki's optimism comes a day after Annan said he expected that the political issues that separated the two feuding parties could be settled by as early as next week.

Although no final deal has been struck, it is understood that President Kibaki's party and the opposition are beginning to talk of an interim power sharing arrangement, but exactly how this would work and how long it would last, are details that still need to be thrashed out.

During the talks, Kategaya who is also the Ugandan Minister for East African Community Affairs, briefed President Kibaki on developments in the region, citing the resignation of the Tanzanian PM as among the reasons why the EAC Heads of State meeting scheduled for Friday had to be postponed to a later date.

President Kibaki and Kategaya agreed that there should be further consultations before a new date for the meeting is set.

Meanwhile, Annan said he was concerned about certain reports in the media Saturday regarding the status of talks within then.

"He (Annan) wishes to reiterate his public appeal of yesterday (Friday) that while the talks are making progress, they have not yet come to a definite conclusion and so he urges the public to be patient until agreement can be reached next week," said a statement.

"In negotiations," Annan said, "a deal is not done until it is done. I had urged all parties to refrain from making statements to the public on sensitive matters under discussion."

"All must understand," he went on, "that selective leaks in the middle of negotiations are not to anyone's benefit."

The election controversy has stirred up deep-seated grievances over political, economic and land issues, pitting opposition supporters against members of the president's ethnic group and groups perceived as supporting the government.

More than 1,000 people have been killed and more than 300,000 have been displaced in the ensuing violence as both sides traded accusations of ethnic cleansing.

Annan arrived in Kenya last month accompanied by former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and Graca Machel, wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela.