Kenya MPs delay vote on tribunal

Some 1,500 people died in the clashes that erupted after the elections

Kenya's government has delayed a parliamentary vote on creating a tribunal to try those implicated in the 2008 post-election violence.

The court should begin hearings by 1 March, or a sealed list of suspects is to be handed over to the International Criminal Court.

The government missed a deadline to pass the bill on 30 January, stipulated by an inquiry into the violence.

Some 1,500 people were killed as rival political and ethnic groups clashed.

Reports say the government withdrew the bill, which has caused deep divisions among MPs, to lobby for support ahead of the crucial vote.

Sealed list

Some MPs have opposed the establishment of a local tribunal, saying that the Kenyan justice system cannot be trusted to try the ringleaders of the violence.

Opponents have also raised concerns that the tribunal will not be independent.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga chaired a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to marshal support for the government-sponsored bill.

The bill requires support from at least 145 of the 222 MPs to pass the parliamentary vote.

Mr Odinga claimed he had been cheated of victory in the December 2007 election, officially won by President Kibaki.

The two leaders signed a power-sharing deal in February to bring an end to the violence and formed a coalition government.

The commission of inquiry into the violence, chaired by Justice Phillip Waki, recommended the establishment of the special tribunal.

Justice Waki handed over a sealed list of suspects to the chief mediator, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, which would be forwarded to the ICC if the Kenyan government did not implement the probe team's recommendations.

Mr Annan has previously said that he is satisfied with the efforts made to set up the tribunal but correspondents say his position may change if the government fails to meet the March deadline.

In December 2008, parliament dissolved the electoral commission, following recommendations by another inquiry into the voting process during the 2007 general elections.