20110128
reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A senior official of The Hague court said on Friday that Kenya had sullied its image by seeking to suspend trials of post-election violence suspects, but was hopeful Nairobi would ask the court to try them locally.

Christian Wenaweser, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), met President Mwai Kibaki on Friday to discuss the court's concerns over a Kenyan diplomatic push to block the trials by rousing support of key African states.

Kenya wants to invoke article 16 of the Rome Statute that established The Hague court and is seeking support from the African Union (AU) at an ongoing summit in Addis Ababa to urge the U.N. Security Council to defer or suspend the trials from taking place for a year.

The U.N. Security Council helped set up the ICC and has control over its mandate and can postpone cases for one year, especially if the prosecution of such cases could cause further upheavals in the country where crimes occurred.

"I have made it clear that this would be a far more complicated action with legal pitfalls. It will also not be seen in the light of the Kenya government cooperating with the ICC," Wenaweser told a news conference after meeting Kibaki.

"Why would you want to create a political perception that is very much not welcome and one that is not desirable," he said.

"If you go to the Security Council, you obviously politicise the issue and bring other countries into the equation, which may not be desirable," he said.

Wenaweser said he had urged Kenya seek the court's permission to carry out the trials locally, as long as it can show it can do so competently.