"We religious leaders equally accept we share the blame. We have demonstrated partisan values, where it called for national interests," the leaders said in statement issued at national prayers held on February 8 by the Inter-Religious Forum, which bring together Christians, Muslims and Hindu. "We are therefore calling on Kenya to a new beginning."

The Rev. Mvume Dandala, a South African Methodist who is the general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, said in a sermon, "God's divine justice does not hurt. It does not destroy. It will not hurt or destroy Kenya or hurt its people. If we open ourselves to that justice, it will heal the land."

Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, who chairs the interfaith forum, explained the prayers had been organized as part of the group's call to give a faith-based leadership to Kenya at a critical time when more than 1,000 people have been killed and more than 300,000 driven from their homes.

"We called it to talk about hope," Nzimbi said at the service that President Mwai Kibaki attended. "By praying together it brings blessing for our nation. We have hope for a better Kenya."

The Rev. Peter Karanja, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, said: "The ongoing dialogue led by [former U.N. secretary general] Kofi Annan must not end without concrete solutions...You must agree for the national good."

Mediator Annan said on February 8 that the political foes have made some progress and they could attain a breakthrough within days on resolving their dispute.

"I sincerely hope that we will conclude our work on item three, the settlement of the political issues, by early next week," said Annan. "We are all agreed a political settlement is necessary with a little patience and a bit of luck." He gave no details on the progress made.

The violence in the east African country broke out after the December 27 presidential elections in which incumbent Kibaki was declared the winner but which opposition leader Raila Odinga says were rigged.

Some observers have attributed the lack of a united church voice since then to heightened ethnic divisions in the country, something about which church leaders warned before the election.

Members of the multi-faith forum said that the crisis since the disputed election could be overcome, if all people had goodwill, reasoned together and agreed on what is best for the country. "It is with great regret we stand before Kenyans to say as a nation, we have manifested values that are different from what we profess," the religious leaders said in their statement. "We are exclusive rather than inclusive. We are ethnocentric rather than Kenyan. We are corrupt rather than upright."

Some analysts say Kenya's crisis has resulted from institutional weaknesses, national inequality and historical injustices and that this had been exploited by politicians targeting ethnicity, sparking the kind of violence witnessed recently.