KATHARINE HOURELD
ELDORET

A policeman shot dead an opposition MP in Kenya yesterday amid rising fears that the east African country could descend into "murderous conflict" or genocide.

Although the killing of David Too was described as a crime of passion, the death reignited clashes in the Rift Valley city of Eldoret between police and protesters suspicious of the government, and interrupted talks in the capital aimed at calming the country after a month of post-election violence.

Police said Too was shot by a traffic policeman who discovered he was having an affair with his girlfriend. A woman shot in the same attack also died.

Too was the second anti-government MP killed in a week; opposition politicians said both were victims of assassination plots.

A Too family spokesman accused the police of a cover-up, saying he was not involved with the woman and had feared for his safety.

"Too had expressed fears that his life was in danger, especially during the campaign period as he criss-crossed the constituency to seek votes," said Julius Langat.

In Eldoret, where Too was shot, 21 people were injured in clashes after the killing. Of 13 who were shot, one later died.

Kenya has been embroiled in ethnic violence since President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the December 27 election and opposition candidate Raila Odinga, head of Too's party, rejected the result, saying the vote had been rigged.

Much of the bloodshed has pitted other tribes, including Odinga's Luo, against Kibaki's Kikuyu people. The western Rift Valley has seen some of the worst violence.

Odinga has said he wants a new election, while Kibaki has made clear he will not negotiate his position as president.

In Nairobi, negotiators began talks mediated by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. However, he called a pause until today for leaders to calm their followers following Too's death.

At a summit in Ethiopia, the head of the African Union warned leaders could not stand by while Kenya fell into ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide. Warning of catastrophe, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he would go to Nairobi today to help Annan, his predecessor.

"Violence continues, threatening to escalate to catastrophic levels," Ban said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called on the UN Security Council to act, saying France feared what was once the most stable east African country would "sink into a murderous conflict of an ethnic character".

Too's death came two days after another opposition MP, Mugabe Were, was fatally shot in suburban Nairobi, setting off violence in the capital's slums and in western regions.

In Eldoret after Too's death, protesters blocked a road outside the hospital and a Kikuyu businessman's lumber yard was torched. Outside the police station, about 40 people camped out after fleeing violence in nearby Nakuru.

Helen Kidogo, who cuddled her 11-month-old son and six-year-old daughter, said: "I'm scared for my children. People are burning houses, killing people and burning them."

Violence spread to areas near Too's home village and the western city of Kisumu.

The US State Department said it had authorised non-emergency personnel and family members to leave Kisumu for Nairobi, indicating that while things had deteriorated in the west, it was not necessary to evacuate staff nationally.-AP