There has been further violence in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, after the shooting dead of an opposition MP.

At least four people died as mobs torched houses and blocked roads in the Kibera slum, not far from the shooting.

 

Mugabe Were, from beaten presidential candidate Raila Odinga's ODM party, apparently died in violence triggered by disputed elections last month.

 

Separately Kenyan army helicopters fired over warring ethnic groups in the western city of Naivasha, reports say.

 

Police on the ground had been unable to control a mob said to number thousands of people which was looting and burning in the town, though the crowd dispersed after the shooting.

 

Government and opposition are due to begin talks to resolve the crisis on Tuesday afternoon.

 

A UN spokesman said the dialogue process, mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan, would start at 1600 local time (1300 GMT) at a neutral location.

 

An ODM spokesman called for calm and restraint following the MP's death.

 

President Mwai Kibaki condemned the killing, but urged Kenyans not to jump to conclusions about who carried it out.

 

Eyewitnesses in Kibera said houses were on fire near a railway line which divides ethnic groups in the slum.

 

Four people were killed by machetes and arrows, and another three deaths were suspected.

 

In other violence:

 

 

At least one demonstrator is killed as police fire tear gas on about 100 opposition supporters in Kisumu

Six vehicles are burnt in the western town of Kakamega

Plumes of smoke are seen rising from the lakeside at Naivasha, as crowds apparently loot the homes of people fleeing the violence

Mr Were is the first leading politician to have died amid violence that has gripped Kenya since December's poll.

 

Two gunmen shot Mr Were as he drove up to the gate of his house in the capital just after midnight, Kenya police spokesman Eric Kiraithe was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

 

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"We are treating it as a murder but we are not ruling out anything, including political motives. We are urging everyone to remain calm," he said.

 

Mr Were, who represented Nairobi's Embakasai district, won a seat in the 27 December legislative election, which was held at the same time as the presidential vote.

 

ODM spokesman Tony Gachoka said: "The current situation makes one suspicious. All fingers will point at the government, and the government will have to show it is not involved."

 

Another ODM spokesman, Salim Lone, called on people "to be peaceful and to only respond to this kind of violence by shunning violence".

 

Members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have been fighting with Luos and Kalenjins who backed his rival, Mr Odinga, in last month's election.

 

Police fired tear gas at Mr Were's compound in Nairobi to disperse protesters outside.

 

Mr Odinga accuses Mr Kibaki of stealing the vote and has refused to recognise the result.

 

Analysts warn a cycle of violence is emerging amid the political impasse, where the pattern of attacks is followed by reprisals.

 

The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has been trying to mediate a solution between the two sides.

 

He set Tuesday as a target for Kenya's government and opposition to name negotiators, in the hope that engaging in formal talks might make it possible to quell the violence.

 

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