With a day to go before International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo discloses the names of the six key suspects of the 2007-2008 chaos that left 1,133 people dead and 650,000 displaced, the Kenya government has said it will establish a local tribunal to ensure justice for all victims.

The ICC took charge of trying the perpetrators of the unrest after Kenya failed to set up a local court. Its Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo is expected to reveal the names of six people suspected of being behind the chaos on Wednesday afternoon.

"Kenya's national interests of peace and security, political stability, national reconciliation and comprehensive justice for all victims of post-election violence cannot be achieved without a local judicial mechanism," said a statement issued after a special cabinet meeting Monday.

"Consequently, irrespective of what transpires at the ICC on Wednesday 15th December, 2010 and in view of the fact that ICC is only a court of last resort, the government will establish a local judicial mechanism..." added the statement from President Mwai Kibaki's office.

It was unclear whether Kenya intends to take back the trial of the suspects from the ICC or whether the local tribunal will complement the Hague-based court.

Lawmakers last year rejected a bill aimed at establishing a local court, which would have required a constitutional amendment, saying it could be prone to political interference.

Kenyan politicians have remained divided over Ocampo's probe into the unrest, while some have been apprehensive at a possible trial.

Last month, former higher education minister William Ruto, who has been accused of playing a key role in the clashes, travelled to The Hague saying he wanted to "set the record straight."

He last week lodged an appeal with the ICC's pre-trial chamber seeking to halt its process.

Ocampo said earlier this month he had wrapped up investigations and would ask the ICC judges to issue summonses for the six. Arrest warrants were only necessary for those who failed to honour the summonses, he said, stressing that "Their guilt or innocence will be decided by the judges at the end of the judicial process."

A hearing to confirm the charges will be held in late 2011 or early 2012.

Kenya plunged into its worst post-independence unrest after the disputed December 27, 2007 presidential elections which claimed the lives of some 1,500 people and displaced another 300,000 others.

Then opposition leader and pre-poll frontrunner Raila Odinga claimed Kibaki had rigged his re-election, sparking riots that quickly turned into reprisal ethnic killings.

In a settlement mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan, Kibaki stayed on as president while Odinga became prime minister in a power-sharing government.

Annan has insisted that the ICC was only tasked with pursuing the masterminds and bemoaned the lack of progress in prosecuting lower-ranking perpetrators in Kenya's national courts.

The European Union said last week it was worried about growing harassment of witnesses of the 2008 violence "and the human rights defenders that are trying to assist them."

Two alleged witnesses last month retracted their statements against Ruto, claiming they had been paid to testify.

Since then police have opened an investigation into the head of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, Hassan Omar, who is accused of having bribed the witnesses, something he denies.

EU representative Eric van der Linden, asked about the risk of renewed violence when the six names are published, said: "We trust that Kenyans will respect the due legal process and avoid incitement to violence".

(AFP)