"The talks have not broken down, but I am taking steps to make sure we accelerate the process and give peace to the people as soon as possible."

Reacting to the news, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on her part said,

 "I am disappointed by the failure of leadership necessary to resolve all the remaining issues. I want to emphasise that the future of our relationship with both sides and their legitimacy hinges on their cooperation to achieve this political solution.... In that regard, we are exploring a wide range of possible actions. We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps."

"After four hours of intense negotiations this morning, the negotiating team made almost no progress toward reaching an agreement on governance, despite the fact that they were given the entire weekend to consult on their positions.......I had to conclude that they were not capable of resolving the outstanding issues."

Aides close to Annan said he was running out of patience and that he was unlikely to stay long in Kenya unless the foot-dragging was stopped. This follows Annan's decision earlier in the week to suspend negotiations with the nominated talks teams, appealing directly instead to the President and ODM head Raila Odinga.

There are fears now that the ODM will act on its threats and return to their previous stance, with disruptive street protests across the country. According to the Associated Press, ODM officials say they have already notified the police of these plans.

It is unclear what exactly is holding up the talks, given that both sides seem to have agreed on the major points. One potential sticking point is what exactly the Prime Minister under this arrangement should be charged with and how many seats the ODM should get in the Cabinet.  Whether or not this is the end of the talks is also unclear, is this evidence of delaying tactics, is it evidence of stonewalling and bluffing or have the two sides reached a point from which neither feels they can compromise further.

Press services also report that a blame-game has ensued over the talks. ODM allied East Africa Standard chimes with opposition negotiator William Ruto's accusation that the government is going back on previous promises and are "changing their mind over sharing power."

"This is not correct at all," Kilonzo told The Associated Press, adding: "They thought this was a picnic where they would walk in and take over the government."

Meanwhile the Police have revised their casualty figures upwards again. They now believe 1500 people have died in the violence so far. Similarly glum news from the United Nations where John Holmes, the United Nation's undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told UNSC that there was a growing prospect of violence in Kenya if the crisis was not speeddily resolved.

The UN official who was in Kenya two weeks ago described what he called, "disturbing accounts of continuing abuses in and around the IDP camps." These he said includued "dreadful stories of murder, of rape and burning....My assessment is that major humanitarian needs will have to be addressed for many months to come," he said.

In later comments, which will perhaps be contested by Kenyan civil society, Holmes insisted that "The ethnic basis of much of what has happened was tragically clear." He added that, "heightened ethnic awareness and fears have quickly spread through much of Kenyan society, fueling polarization," and that"the effects of ethnic divisions on basic government services have, for example, been dramatic in some areas because staff have quietly left or fear to go to work."

In speaking about the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons, he said that it was obvious that the crisis in Kenya would not disappear even if a political agreement was reached in the coming days.

"It was clear that the people who have been displaced by this crisis in many cases will not be able to go home quickly."