ICC prosecutor to meet Kenyan leaders over trials

By David Clarke

NAIROBI (Reuters) - International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will hold talks with Kenya's leaders on Thursday about how to prosecute the suspected masterminds of post-election violence in 2008.

Ethnic clashes after a disputed presidential election killed at least 1,300 people and uprooted more than 300,000, shattering Kenya's image as a stable, regional economic powerhouse.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the leaders of the coalition born out of last year's violence, will meet Moreno-Ocampo to thrash out what happens next.

Crisis mediator Kofi Annan handed over a list of the main suspects to Moreno-Ocampo in July. Political sources say it names influential cabinet ministers, members of parliament and businessmen.

Annan said during a visit to Kenya in October that he expected a few "big men" to be prosecuted by the ICC.

According to a letter Moreno-Ocampo sent to Kibaki and Odinga, quoted by local media, he said they could either refer the cases to the ICC -- or he could initiate proceedings.

In the second case, Moreno-Ocampo would need to get authorisation from the pre-trial chamber at The Hague to start investigations, a step he has not taken in other cases.

The Standard newspaper said Kibaki and Odinga agreed after meetings on Tuesday to let Moreno-Ocampo pursue the second option -- to cushion themselves from any backlash.