NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Trying suspected Kenyan war criminals at home will improve the country's chances for reconciliation, the Kenyan president declared.
The African Union backed a proposal by Kenya to delay the trial of six Kenyan officials at the International Criminal Court for post-election violence in 2007.
Kenyan lawmakers passed a measure on to the government in December to leave the ICC for what they said were issues related to sovereignty. The move came as Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor at the ICC, requested the court issue summonses for six Kenyan citizens accused of "massive crimes" committed during post-election violence in Kenya in 2007.
Members of the two major political parties in 2007, the Party for National Unity and the Orange Democratic Party, were among those named by the prosecutor.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was quoted by the BBC as saying trying the suspected criminals at home would "boost our efforts [for] peace, justice and reconciliation as well as uphold our national dignity and sovereignty; and prevent the resumption of conflict and violence."
Rivals in a peace deal that ended the political violence in Kenya agreed that perpetrators of violence would face justice at home or at the ICC.
The ICC said more than 1,000 people died and 3,500 were left injured in 30 days of violence that included hundreds of rapes.
