Akhir 05 , 1432 H. / March 10, 2011 -- The U.S. government said Thursday it does not support Kenya's bid to get the U.N. Security Council to defer the cases of six suspects facing charges of crimes against humanity at an international court, AP reported. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya said that Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told Kenya's vice president in a meeting Wednesday that delaying the cases at the International Criminal Court will undermine Kenya's prospects for long-term stability. The ICC's chief prosecutor has said the six bear the greatest responsibility for Kenya's 2007-08 postelection violence that killed more than 1,000 people. Kenya's vice president is in the U.S. with a team of six Cabinet ministers _ appointed by President Mwai Kibaki last week _ to lobby U.N. Security Council members to defer the Kenyan ICC cases. The six suspects said on Wednesday that they would honor summonses issued by the ICC this week to appear at the court in April. Among the six are Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta _ the son of Kenya's founding president _ and former higher education minister William Ruto. The Kenyan efforts to defer the ICC case at the Security Council appear unlikely to succeed, given the U.S. position. Britain and France also have signaled that they are unlikely to support Kenya's request. Despite that, a Kenyan government spokesman exuded optimism Thursday that Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka could still persuade the U.S. to change its position. -- SPA
