NAIROBI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition said on Tuesday it would only hold talks with President Mwai Kibaki as part of international mediation efforts to end post-election unrest that has killed hundreds of people.

The head of the African Union, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, was due to arrive in Nairobi later on Tuesday in a push for dialogue between Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga. Kibaki has invited Odinga for talks.

"Raila will only participate in a meeting with Mr. Kibaki if it's part of a negotiating process that President Kufuor is expected to initiate," said Odinga's spokesman Salim Lone.

"Mr. Odinga has categorically ruled out any bilateral meeting with Mr. Kibaki unless it is conducted through an international mediator," he added.

Lone was responding to Kibaki's invitation to Odinga and several religious leaders for talks on Friday on how to stop the violence, consolidate peace and forge "national reconciliation".

The government raised its death toll from a wave of ethnic clashes over Kibaki's disputed election win to nearly 500 and 255,000 displaced on Monday.

But Odinga, who says Kibaki rigged his re-election, told Reuters on Monday that "closer to a thousand" people may have died in the bloodshed that has shocked world powers and marred Kenya's reputation as an oasis of stability in a violent region.

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