Leading Kenyans await ICC ruling

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is due to rule whether two Kenyan presidential hopefuls and four other officials should stand trial over violence after the 2007 election.

      Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Ruto are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution. The other men face similar allegations. All six say they are innocent. More than 1,200 people were killed in weeks of unrest after the 2007 poll. Some 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes. The violence began as clashes between supporters of the two rival presidential candidates - Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki - but it snowballed into a bloody round of score settling and communal violence. BBC reports that the ICC judges are due to meet today in the Hague to decide if all or some of the six suspect should stand trial. Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has asked to bring two separate cases, reflecting the ethnic divisions behind Kenya's post-election violence. Mr Kenyatta, a supporter of Mr Kibaki, is accused of organizing a campaign of violence including murder and rape against Odinga supporters. Prosecutors say he met members of a secretive criminal organization known as Mungiki at a shopping mall in Nairobi before the election in 2007 to arrange some of the attacks. He denied the accusation at a preliminary hearing at The Hague-based court last September. Mr Kenyatta, the son of the country's first President Jomo Kenyatta, is hoping to stand in next year's presidential poll, with analysts suggesting that he has a realistic chance of winning. Two other senior Kibaki supporters face similar allegations. The violence after the 2007 election took Kenya to the brink of civil war. (BBC)