By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Kenyans across the political divide prayed for peace on Sunday while aid workers sought to bring relief to an estimated 250,000 refugees from post-election violence that has also killed hundreds.

"Our leaders have failed us. They have brought this catastrophe upon us. So now we are turning to the Almighty to save Kenya," said Jane Riungu, leading her five children in their best clothes to a hilltop church outside Nairobi.

One week after the announcement of President Mwai Kibaki's re-election ignited protests, riots and looting around the east African nation, there was little sign of him meeting opposition rival Raila Odinga to sort out the crisis directly.

Would-be mediators, including Washington's top Africa diplomat Jendayi Frazer and South Africa's Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, shuttled between both camps.

But a statement from Kibaki that he was ready to form "a government of national unity" was met with scepticism by an opposition that says he stole the election by fraud and is now occupying the president's seat illegitimately.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) wants Kibaki, 76, to quit and an international mediator to broker talks prior to a fresh election in three to six months.

On the street, most Kenyans were preoccupied with how to end violence and get their lives back to normal, rather than the intricacies of politics.

At least 300 people have died, some in battles between police and protesters, others in ethnic violence.

Looting and criminality have also flared during the chaos, claiming yet more lives in a nation that had been seen as a relatively stable democracy and flourishing economy.

"Mere resolution of the presidential election dispute is not going to erase the ugly ethnic hatred that has finally been exposed," wrote commentator Gitau Warigi in the Sunday Nation.

"The facade of a peaceful Kenya has always been intended to obscure from view the deep fissures in the country. Sadly, it might take a generation or more to heal the fresh wounds generated by this disputed election."

"NOTHING LEFT"

In Protestant, Catholic and other churches around deeply religious Kenya, there were special prayers for peace and moments of silence for the dead on Sunday.

"Together, our prayers will help bring Kenya back to the beautiful, united nation we all love," the Media Council of Kenya said, announcing an hour-long "Prayers for Peace" broadcast on all major channels for Sunday evening.

One of the worst-hit areas was the ethnically mixed town of Eldoret and its environs, where 30 people -- mainly of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe -- were burned to death after taking refuge from mobs of local Kalenjins furious at the election result.

Tens of thousands of refugees were camping out at at churches, police stations and grassy fields around Eldoret, many left with nothing after their homes were torched.

Others carried the few possessions they had salvaged -- bags of clothes, mattresses, goats, bags of grain, in some cases whole sets of wooden furniture.

"They burned my house, my crops, all my livestock escaped. They killed some of my neighbours. I just ran. I don't have anything left," said Daniel Chege, 44, sheltering in Eldoret's Catholic Cathedral with 9,000 others.

"It's ethnic cleansing."

Around Eldoret, violence had calmed and police had dismantled roadblocks manned by gangs of youths.

Some shops were starting to re-open.

But many refugees said they were terrified and few had anything left to go back to. In a field around 30 km (19 miles) from Eldoret, refugees, some of them smartly dressed in well-fitting suits or jeans, queued for maize handouts.

"They're surviving, but food stocks are going to run out in a few days," said one aid worker.

Twenty U.N trucks with food aid were due to leave Mombasa port for Nairobi and Eldoret on Sunday.

Odinga, 62, had looked on course to win Kenya's vote until Kibaki was handed a narrow victory last Sunday.

International observers say the election fell short of democratic standards, and France accused Kibaki's government directly of rigging the result.

A former political prisoner and wealthy business owner, Odinga helped Kibaki win a 2002 election, but says the president broke a promise to award him a new prime minister's position at the time. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks in Eldoret; editing by Myra MacDonald)

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