Washington, Jan 11, SPA -- The United States on Thursday welcomed the appointment of a panel of African leaders to take over mediation efforts to assist Kenya in the midst of its political turmoil. The effort of the panel, led by former United Nations (U.N.) chief Kofi Annan, is aimed at helping to stabilize Kenya which is currently dealing with widespread violence after contested presidential elections in the country. “We [the United States] appreciated the efforts of the AU (African Union) to help try and bring about a resolution of the political differences between the parties and certainly includes this eminent persons group as well,” said Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman. Kenya’s rival leaders-President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga-on Thursday agreed to work with the panel to end the crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives, said AU head and Ghanaian President John Kufuor. Casey said that the rival leaders’ acceptance of the talks as well as the panel’s assistance is “part of a broader international effort to again try and promote a political compromise and a settlement to differences between the parties.” Kufuor’s acceptance came after the failure of AU-mediated talks to resolve the political crisis. Kenya’s opposition blamed Kibaki for the failure. Kufuor and foreign negotiators had held a lengthy meeting Thursday morning with Odinga, who insisted that Kibaki rigged the December 27, 2007 elections and refused to recognize his re-election. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/516615