Jan 8 (Reuters) - The African Union chairman arrived in Kenya on Tuesday to help end turmoil that has killed hundreds of people, but hopes of a swift breakthrough seemed to falter. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said mediation by AU chairman John Kufuor is the only way to end the chaos and has rejected bilateral talks with President Mwai Kibaki, dimming hopes for a breakthrough. Here are some key facts on Kufuor, known as the gentle giant: * Kufuor's victory in the 2000 presidential election against Jerry Rawlings' vice-president, John Atta Mills, gave the former British colony its first peaceful transfer of power from one elected government to another. * Kufuor, born in December 1938, is a tall, affable Christian from the once dominant Ashanti tribe in the country's gold- and cocoa-producing economic heartland. * Before entering politics, Kufuor obtained a law degree at Britain's Oxford University and started work as a private lawyer in 1965 in Kumasi, the main town of the Ashanti region. He was city manager and chief legal officer of Kumasi City Council from 1967 to 1969. * Kufuor served as a junior foreign minister in a 1969-1972 civilian government sandwiched between two periods of military rule and was a member of Constituent Assemblies that wrote new constitutions in 1969 and 1979. * He joined a 1982 Rawlings administration, with a local government brief, but resigned after seven months over political differences. * He chaired his Ashanti Brick and Construction Company between 1973 and 1978 and was the chairman of one of Africa's best known soccer clubs, Asante Kotoko, from 1988 to 1991. * Kufuor made his political comeback several years after Ghana's return to multiparty democracy in the early 1990s but lost the presidential election to Rawlings in 1996. * Kufuor was however re-elected in December 2004, winning over 52 percent of the vote and thus avoiding a run-off. * Towards the end of 2006, Kufuor accused Rawlings of plotting to overthrow his administration by staging a repeat of the military coup in 1981 which swept him to office. * Last November, Kufuor escaped unhurt when a car crashed into his vehicle near the Kotoka International Airport in the capital Accra. It was his second lucky escape, as his convoy was also involved in an accident in April 2003. * Last weekend Kenya invited President Kufuor in his position as the AU chairman to visit and assess the situation. -- Ethnic violence has nearly 500 people after the disputed Kenyan election on Dec. 27 in which incumbent President Kibaki was declared the winner despite widespread allegations of vote-rigging. (Writing by David Cutler; London Editorial Reference Unit;)
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer (L) and U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger look at pictures of violence during a meeting with civil society members in ...
