RESOLUTION
Usualy "Cannot initialize InnoDB" shows up because 'innodb_data_file_path' is not set. If you do not wish to use transactional InnoDB tables, add the line:skip-innodb
into the [mysqld] section in /etc/my.cnf.
If you want to use InnoDB tables, add to the [mysqld] section:
innodb_data_file_path = ibdata1:10M:autoextend
To get good performance, InnoDB startup options should be adjysted accordingly to your hardware, see for more information: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/innodb-configuration.html
Restart MySQL after the my.cnf file modification.