Jan 10 (Reuters) - African Union Chairman John Kufuor quit Kenya on Thursday without a deal to end a political crisis that has killed 500 people, leaving the president and opposition leader accusing each other of wrecking talks.

Here is a chronology of the recent turmoil:

Dec. 27 - Voters elect a new president and parliament. Most opinion polls put Kibaki's opposition rival Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement in the lead.

Dec. 30 - Kibaki wins election by the narrow margin of 230,000 votes and is hurriedly sworn in.

Dec. 31 - The government floods the streets with security forces and maintains a ban on live TV broadcasts after riots convulse the nation.

Jan. 1 - A mob torches a church, killing about 30 villagers.

Jan. 2 - Kibaki's government accuses Odinga's backers of "ethnic cleansing" as the death toll from tribal violence reaches about 300.

Jan. 3 - Attorney General Amos Wako calls for an independent investigation into the election. After hours of police clashes with thousands of protesters, the opposition call off a planned demonstration.

-- South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu begins to try to mediate.

Jan 4 - It is announced that Ghanaian President John Kufuor, chair of the African Union, will visit Kenya.

-- Kibaki says he would accept a re-run of the disputed election if a court orders it.

-- The United Nations says the unrest has uprooted 250,000 people, and that about 100,000 displaced people in the Northern Rift Valley could face starvation. The International Red Cross makes an urgent appeal for aid.

Jan 5 - Kibaki says he is ready to form a government of national unity to end the turmoil, but the opposition rejects the offer.

Jan 7 - The death toll reaches 486, according to a government committee.

-- Odinga calls off planned protests after meeting U.S. envoy Jendayi Frazer, saying the mediation process is about to begin.

Jan 8 - Kibaki announces 17 ministers for his new cabinet. Protesters respond by building burning barricades in Odinga's western stronghold of Kisumu.

-- African Union chairman and Ghanaian President John Kufuor arrives in Nairobi to mediate.

Jan 10 - Kufuor leaves Kenya saying both sides have agreed to work together with an African panel headed by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. However Kibaki and Odinga, amid recriminations, did not meet or agree how to end the crisis.

-- Riot police fire tear gas at around 70 pro-opposition women who blocked a road in Nairobi. (Writing by Jijo Jacob and David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

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