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Odinga made the announcement after meeting with U.S. envoy Jendayi Frazer and after the government warned that the proposed Tuesday demonstrations were illegal and could provoke violence. Odinga said he made the decision in anticipation of mediation by Ghana's President John Kufuor, the current chairman of the African Union, who was expected to arrive by Tuesday.
"We are now sure that mediation will start. We have consulted and decided that the public rallies we called for are canceled," he said, adding "We want the mediation to take place in a peaceful environment, that is why the rallies have been canceled."
Odinga has said he is willing to discuss sharing power with President Mwai Kibaki, whose victory in Dec. 27 elections that observers said resulted in flawed tallies sparked a week of riots and ethnic clashes that killed nearly 500 people.
The explosion of violence has damaged Kenya's image as a stable democracy and attraction for millions of tourists in a region rent by wars, uprisings and civil unrest.
A statement Monday from the Ministry of Special Programs put the death toll at 486, with some 255,000 people displaced from their homes. The toll was compiled by a special committee of humanitarian services set up by the government which extensively toured areas most affected by riots and protests.
In earlier calling for mass marches and protest rallies, Odinga had advised supporters to wear white arm bands to emphasize their peaceful intent and said any bloodshed would be the government's responsibility.
Attempts to hold opposition rallies last week were blocked by police who fired tear gas, water cannons and live bullets over people's heads. Human rights groups accused police of excessive force and unjustified killings in the crisis, but police Commissioner Hussein Ali insisted Sunday that "We have not shot anyone."
Frazer, the top U.S. diplomat on Africa, has been trying to resolve the deadly dispute. She has won an offer from Kibaki to form a coalition government and a concession from Odinga that he would negotiate without preconditions.
Odinga said Sunday he was willing to drop demands that Kibaki resign and was willing to discuss sharing power, but only through a mediator empowered to negotiate an agreement that the international community would guarantee.
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 The United States, Britain and the European Union have been urging Kibaki and Odinga to negotiate. The East African nation is considered an ally in the fight against terrorism.
Meanwhile, thousands of tourists have canceled vacations at the beginning of the high season.
"Hotels have been projecting an occupancy of 80-90 percent of capacity. But today, as we speak, that has dropped down to less than 40 percent. That's a huge loss for the economy," Mohammed Hersi, general manager of Whitesands Hotel in the coastal city of Mombasa, told AP Television News.
Schools were to reopen after the holidays on Monday, but the government postponed that for a week. Many are being used by refugees.
In Mombasa on Monday, police fired tear gas to scatter a few dozen protesters who gathered in the center of the tourist city yelling "No Raila, no peace!"
Kibaki was re-elected by a narrow margin in a vote count that international observers say was deeply flawed. But it would be nearly impossible for Kibaki to govern without opposition support.
In parliamentary elections held the same day as the presidential vote, Odinga's party won 95 of 210 legislative seats, and half of Kibaki's Cabinet lost their seats.
It was a sign of people's anger over pervasive corruption and nepotism that favored Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. Simmering resentment of the Kikuyus was ignited in the violence, which pitted Odinga's Luo and other tribes against the Kikuyus.
[Associated
Press; By MICHELLE FAUL]
Associated Press Writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Katharine Houreld, Tom Odula and Malkhadir M. Muhumed in Nairobi, Todd Pitman in Eldoret and Tom Maliti in Mombasa contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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