ICC worried over Kenya witnesses

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International prosecutors have written to the Kenyan government over concerns that witnesses to deadly riots in 2007 and 2008 have been intimidated.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) asked the Kenya authorities to make sure witnesses were properly protected.

The ICC has promised to prosecute suspected organisers of the violence, which swept the country for weeks after the 2007 election, killing hundreds.

Western leaders have accused Kenya of doing little to track down suspects.

Prominent politicians, including cabinet ministers, are believed to be among the suspects.

The clashes between December 2007 and February 2008 left some 1,300 people dead and forced 300,000 from their homes.

'Betrayed our leader'

In a letter published by Kenyan newspaper the Standard, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said his office was aware of "a growing number of reports" that potential ICC witnesses "had been threatened and intimidated".

"The primary responsibility to protect persons at risk lies first and foremost with Kenyan authority," the letter stated.

Several witnesses who testified at the Kenyan government's inquiry into the violence, the Waki Commission, told how they had been intimidated and suffered death threats.

One witness told the BBC's Network Africa programme he received threats verbally and by text message after he spoke to the commission.

"The first message said: 'You are still a young man and you are not supposed to die, but you betrayed our leader, so what we shall do to you is just to kill you,'" he said.

The witness said he had been forced to leave his home and go into hiding, but promised to testify despite believing both he and his family were in danger.

The international community had urged Kenya to move swiftly in punishing perpetrators of the violence, but no-one has yet been charged.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to share power to end the clashes that followed the December 2007 election.

Mr Kibaki won the election, but Mr Odinga's supporters alleged fraud.

Clashes between their supporters snowballed into large-scale ethnic violence that engulfed large parts of the country for weeks.