LILONGWE - The political violence in Kenya should be a warning to African countries to act quickly to resolve tribal divisions that have plagued other parts of the region, a former British government minister said on Thursday.

More than 600 people have been killed in tribal violence that erupted when Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki won an election last month which opposition leader Raila Odinga says was rigged.

About 250,000 other people, many of them members of Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group, have been forced to flee their homes.

Baroness Lynda Chalker, overseas development minister in the last Conservative government, said the main reason for the violence in the east African nation was the failure to address long-standing tribal tensions.

"The root cause is that Kenya has never really tackled the tribal rivalries and I think it is a lesson to every other country to never let tribal rivalries to get out of hands," Chalker told Reuters during a private visit to Malawi.

"It's tragic when this reminds you of 1994, when over 800,000 people were murdered within 100 days because of tribal differences in Rwanda," she said.

Kenya's sudden descent into crisis has dented its democratic credentials, scared off tourists and hurt one of Africa's most promising economies.

"They (Kibaki and Odinga) have to sit down and listen to one other, listen to the fears and hopes of their people and come through it with some approach to rebuilding the reputation of Kenya," Chalker said.

The former minister was involved in efforts to bring the warring Renamo and Frelimo parties to talks that ended Mozambique's civil war in 1992 after 17 years.

"In Mozambique, peace was finally possible after the leadership of Renamo and Frelimo understood what their people wanted, which was peace, good education, and good health.

"In Kenya it will only be possible when the leadership finally understand their people's aspirations."

An African Union mission to resolve the Kenyan crisis ended in failure last week with Kibaki and Odinga accusing each other of wrecking the talks.