THE HAGUE, Nov 25 – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will make an announcement this week on Kenya\’s post-election violence, following his preliminary investigation, his office said on Tuesday.
"The prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will hold a press conference … on Thursday, 26 November," his office said in a media advisory.
"The Prosecutor will make an announcement related to the situation in Kenya," it added, without giving further detail — weeks after Nairobi insisted on a "local solution".
Moreno-Ocampo has already said he would ask the judges of the ICC by December 1 for permission to launch a full, official investigation into the deadly violence that followed the disputed elections of December 27, 2007.
He has been conducting a preliminary probe since last year.
Some 1,500 people were killed and another 300,000 displaced in a matter of weeks after presidential polls in which opponents accused President Mwai Kibaki of voter fraud.
The prosecutor has stated that he has a strong case against the key instigators of the violence, and that he wants to pursue those "most responsible".
The ICC has already assigned three judges to consider the prosecutor\’s pending request.
The Kenyan government has yet to act on the recommendation of its own year-old inquiry that a special tribunal be set up.
Earlier this month, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said that Nairobi will help the ICC to probe election violence, but that it was committed to a "local solution."
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