Kenya's opposition plans more street protests on Tuesday to try to force out President Mwai Kibaki, while also meeting international mediators to discuss how to end turmoil that has killed more than 300 people.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga - who says he is Kenya's real president - was to see the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, on Monday.
But his supporters say they will not give up on demonstrations despite a police ban. ODM says nationwide rallies are scheduled for Tuesday.
Protests against Kibaki's disputed re-election brought Nairobi and other towns to a standstill last week, as police battled furious Odinga supporters. Dozens have died in protests.
Odinga faces the dilemma of responding to international pressure to avoid anything that may provoke more violence and maintaining pressure to oust Kibaki.
"Nobody wants to spill blood, but democracy has no shortcut," Odinga aide Tony Gachoka told Reuters. "If you don't engage (on the street), the dictator entrenches."
Kibaki's government accused Odinga of "grandstanding" and setting impossible conditions for talks to end the unrest in east Africa's largest economy.
Around the country of 36 million people, Kenyans were struggling to come to terms with some of the worst violence in their nation since independence from Britain.
The poor in city slums and rural areas have been worst-hit by the violence, with the political elite, other well-to-do Kenyans and expatriates largely unaffected in gated compounds.
Odinga, who turned 63 on Monday, had looked on course to win the December 27 vote until Kibaki, 76, was handed a narrow victory.
Both sides alleged fraud, and international observers say the election fell short of democratic standards.
