State Department: Kenya situation still being monitored

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Asked about a U.S. diplomat's description of Kenya's violence as "ethnic cleansing," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday he would let Jendayi Frazer's comments stand but did not say they represented Washington's official position.

He stressed that the State Department's Office of War Crimes Issues continues to closely monitor the post-election violence between Kenya's ethnic groups for "any incidence of atrocities" and is documenting all cases being brought to its attention.

He described the violence in Kenya - where nearly 1,000 people have been killed since the disputed Dec. 27 election - as a "very serious situation, if not a crisis."  And he noted that "a very significant amount of people" have been displaced, some of them forced out of certain areas and others fleeing the violence.