Kenya ? Efforts to resolve Kenya’s disputed presidential election faltered Thursday as diplomats from the United States and African Union jetted out of the country without forging an agreement.

As he left, African Union Chairman John Kufuor, who is president of Ghana, said both sides had agreed to a new round of talks under the stewardship of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Annan will lead a panel of African experts expected to convene in Kenya soon.

But prospects appeared dim as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his challenger, Raila Odinga, blamed each other for the collapse of talks supervised by the African Union.

Kenya has been in turmoil since last month’s balloting, which international observers say suffered from widespread irregularities.