Kenya's opposition yesterday said it would resume protests next week over a disputed election, just having finished three days of demonstrations in which at least 28 died.

The decision came as a reversal after opposition leader Raila Odinga on Friday said his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) would take its fight off the streets and use other channels, including talks with African leaders and economic boycotts.

About 650 people have been killed since President Mwai Kibaki won a disputed December 27 election, mostly in police action against banned protests and attacks on tribes seen as backing him. Human rights groups have decried both types of killing.

"We are resuming our peaceful public rallies on Thursday," Henry Kosgey, Orange Democratic Move-ment chairman, told reporters. "We will use all available means to bring down the Kibaki regime."

Odinga says Kibaki stole the closest-ever election in the east African nation from him. International observers say the count was so chaotic it was impossible to tell who won, and the government says the ODM also rigged votes.

The protests are a high-stakes tactic to pressure the government, already being threatened with aid cuts after images of police shooting and beating protesters drew widespread criticism. The government has rebuffed the threat.

But many Kenyans say ODM's strategy could backfire, as the protests have bred chaos that disrupted schools and closed businesses, and shown Odinga staying off the streets while his supporters face the might of government security services.

Police commissioner Hussein Ali yesterday said he was sending a team to investigate the police shooting of two unarmed protesters in the western city of Kisumu, captured in dramatic TV footage. The investigators' report is due on February 1.

The video shows an officer shooting two young men from a group that had thrown stones, one of whom made faces at him. He then twice kicks one of the men, who tried to stand up. ODM called it "a cold-blooded execution".