Efforts to find a solution to the crisis in Kenya have suffered another setback following the withdrawal of a key mediator from the peace process.

South African lawyer and businessman Cyril Ramaphosa, a key figure in negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s, had been chosen by the chief mediator Kofi Annan to head a second phase of talks between government and opposition representatives aimed at resolving some of the underlying causes of the violence sparked by the disputed presidential elections of 27 December. However, he pulled out on 4 February