Ocampo said it was important to begin the process so that elections in 2012 are not threatened [AFP]

Luis Moreno Ocampo announced in the capital, Nairobi, on Saturday that he planned to present two to three cases for trial possibly by July next year.

"Everyone is worried about the next election in Kenya in 2012. That is why I understand the importance of speed," he said.

Ocampo said: "I'll go to the communities. I'll see the victims, listen to them. I have to collect the evidence.

"Then I'll present my case. Then the  names will be known. In the meantime my duty is to make criminal records ready - who gave orders to kill. That's it."

Ethnic clashes broke after the opposition disputed the re-election of Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president.

At least 1,300 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced by the violence.

List of suspects

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, who acted as mediator following the crisis, cautioned that there was a serious risk that the violence would be repeated if the people responsible for the killings were not brought to justice.

In July, he gave Ocampo a list of suspects identified in a report by a Kenyan judge. Political sources say it includes cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and businessmen.

Asked whether his investigation would not be a destabilising factor in the run-up to the next election, Ocampo said: "I'm  aware of the need to have a peaceful election in Kenya and so I think that 2010 is the time to identify the evidence, identify suspects, the judges decide on them and [then we'll] be ready to hold the trail."

He met Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, on Thursday and told them he would request the go-ahead for an investigation in December from the ICC's pre-trial judges.

Ocampo said he had taken the decision to proceed unilaterally because the Kenyan leaders, who now serve in a power-sharing government together, had decided against referring the case to the court in The Hague.

Kibaki and Odinga have reportedly agreed to co-operate with any trials, but reiterated that the government remains committed to "local judicial mechanism".

Numerous attempts to start a local process have stalled and many Kenyans are sceptical that anyone in a position of power will be arrested and charged.

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