Nairobi  - Kenya's coalition government, formed to bring an end to the post-election violence that ripped the county apart in early 2008, was Thursday locked in talks aimed at preventing an increasingly fragile alliance falling apart.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, of the Orange Democratic Movement, on Wednesday said members of his party would boycott cabinet meetings.

The ODM feels is is being sidelined by President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity. Odinga's party walked out of earlier talks with the PNU.

The coalition has been lambasted for failing to bring about promised reforms, and instead concentrating on bickering. Several corruption scandals have also blotted the coalition's copybook.

Fears have been growing in recent months that the coalition could crumble completely, potentially sparking a repeat of the ethnic violence that saw over 1,500 die after disputed presidential elections.

However, there are also growing calls, particularly from religious leaders, for the coalition to be disbanded and for fresh elections to be called.(dpa)