A European diplomat has said Kenya’s campaign to delay trials of suspected post-election violence masterminds at The Hague may prove futile.

Ms Laetitia van den Assum, the Dutch ambassador to Kenya, says it would be “considerably difficult” for Kenya to demonstrate that if allowed to continue, the trials would be a threat to national peace and security.

She pointed out that majority of opinion polls have shown that most Kenyans were in favour of the trials.

“The UN Security Council may not seriously consider the request because apparently it is not a government position. One of the coalition leaders has distanced himself from the effort,” Ms Laetitia, told the Nation in her office Tuesday.

Instead, she advised Kenya to set up a credible judicial mechanism and then ask the International Criminal Court to return jurisdiction of the cases.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and a number of ministers have spent the past few weeks shuttling around the continent to seek support for Kenya’s bid to stop the trial of six suspects at The Hague.

The African Union has already endorsed the decision and the UN Security Council is expected to make a determination on the matter.

But the envoy cautioned that the campaign may not shield the politicians named in connection with the post-election violence because the ICC prosecutor follows credible evidence.

“He has no regard for individuals and is determined to achieve justice for the victims of the violence.”

ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo has expressed intention to prosecute Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura and MPs Henry Kosgey and William Ruto for crimes against humanity. The others are former police commissioner Hussein Ali and journalist Joshua arap Sang.

The diplomat asked President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to appoint “widely acceptable jurists ” to key positions in the justice system.

She spoke three days after US ambassador Michael Rannerberger declared that the Obama administration will block any attempts to halt trials, raising the possibility that the campaign was doomed to failure.

“The American position is that we want the ICC process to proceed expeditiously. We do not want to see the process delayed. We think that carrying through with the trials is absolutely crucial to fighting impunity and to ensuring accountability,” said Mr Mr Ranneberger.

The US holds veto power in the Security Council and a rejection of the petition by any one of the five permanent members of the Council means the appeal would stand defeated. It is also widely expected  that Britain and France may not support the Kenya bid for deferral.

 “We never say in advance what our positions are to be (at the UN) so obviously I can’t say that we will veto. What I would say is that we do not see this effort to seek deferral as positive and we support a continuation of the process and we want to see the process move ahead expeditiously.”