Nairobi - International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Thursday he would attempt to initiate a probe into Kenya's deadly post-election violence by December. "I consider the crimes in Kenya to be crimes against humanity ... in December I will request the judges of the International Criminal Court to open an investigation," he told reporters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi after meeting President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
At least 1,300 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced during months of tribal violence that followed the controversial December 2007 presidential elections.
Kenya has failed to set up a local tribunal to try post-election violence suspects, prompting former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to hand an envelope containing the names of politicians and businessmen accused of orchestrating the violence to the ICC.
Annan brokered the deal that saw Odinga - who accused Kibaki of stealing the elections - become prime minister and ended the violence.
Moreno-Ocampo had already promised to try the highest-profile suspects prior to his visit, which was aimed at securing Kenya's cooperation.
A joint statement by Kibaki and Odinga said that Kenya would support the ICC, as well as try suspects locally.
"The government is fully committed to discharge its primary responsibility ... to establish a local judicial mechanism to deal with perpetrators of the post election violence," Kibaki said. "We also remain committed to cooperate with the ICC."
An investigation by the ICC has huge public backing in Kenya, where many believe that local trials would see the rich and powerful escape unpunished.
Justice for the victims of the post-election violence victims is seen one of the key elements required to prevent more bloodshed in 2012, when the next presidential elections are due.
Christine Ndinda Mbithi, who fled her home town of Narok after her store was burned to the ground and her life threatened during the violence, believes only the ICC can prevent more violence.
"It will happen again if the offenders aren't taken to The Hague," she told the German Press Agency dpa.
Two commissions that probed the violence also recommended a raft of changes to the police, the judiciary and land policy - among other areas - but the pace of reform has been slow.
The United States is pressuring Kenya to bring about the necessary reforms and has threatened travel bans to over a dozen top Kenya officials for obstructing reform.
Attorney General Amos Wako has so far been the only official to receive a ban, although he has threatened to sue the US for defamation.
Under Wako's watch, nobody has been brought to book for their role in the violence and rampant corruption has gone unchecked.
