Imanyara pushes for another attempt at Kenya tribunal

The Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence headed by Justice Philip Waki required the government to establish a local tribunal involving some foreign judges and a prosecutor from outside the country to try the suspects.

Chief mediator

When it emerged that key administration officials were not keen on this option, chief mediator Kofi Annan handed the list of suspects prepared by the Waki team to Mr Moreno-Ocampo.

The ICC pre-trial chamber of judges is expected to rule next month on whether the prosecutor has amassed sufficient evidence to bring a case to trial at The Hague and whether the Kenya case falls within the jurisdiction of the court.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has spent the last two months lobbying foreign heads of state to support a request by Kenya that the case at the ICC be deferred for a year.

The African Union endorsed that bid at a summit in Addis Ababa last week but the United States has expressed its opposition.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on Thursday that his government would not support the deferrals, especially if they were meant to protect the suspects.

The opposition of the US, which has veto power in the UN Security Council, means that the only way Kenya can avoid trials at The Hague would be if the government can convince the ICC that it has established a credible local tribunal to handle the cases.