Luis Moreno Ocampo told journalists he plans to present two to three cases for trial possibly by July next year so that Kenya will go to its next election, due in 2012, without the threat of violence.

Moreno Ocampo had said on Thursday that crimes against humanity had been committed in Kenya and will ask ICC judges in December to allow him to formally open an investigation.

The bloodshed that claimed more than 1,000 lives took place after President Mwai Kibaki was controversially declared winner. The then-opposition claimed the presidential poll was rigged. Many protesters who clashed with the police were killed but the violence, which took place between December 2007 and February 2008, also erupted along tribal lines.

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

He said if his request is accepted then he will begin work after a month when he verifies that no country is carrying out a similar investigation.

"We expect to do the cases in four or five or six months, that is our style and that is what we are trying to do," Moreno Ocampo said. He added that in Kenya there will "probably" be "two or three different cases because there are different groups who committed the crimes and we will identify the most responsible of each group."

Moreno Ocampo's office has been evaluating whether the Kenyan violence constituted crimes against humanity since January 2008. In July, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, who mediated an end to the violence, sent Moreno Ocampo a sealed envelope with the names of suspected ringleaders named by an independent commission.

The commission kept those names secret, saying they are powerful individuals who could interfere with future investigations, but did say that a handful of Cabinet ministers, businesspeople and police officers are listed.

It had recommended that the government form an independent tribunal with Kenyan and foreign judges to try the suspects, arguing that Kenyan courts are not credible. Failing that, it recommended the ICC take over the cases. Both recommendations won wide local and international support.

The government has so far failed to form an independent tribunal. A lawmaker has independently tabled in parliament a bill aimed at setting up such a tribunal. Debate on that legislation resumes next week.

Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Thursday after meeting with Moreno Ocampo that the government remains committed to setting up a "local judicial mechanism."

Moreno Ocampo said on Saturday that even though many more people were involved in the violence his role is to try only those who bear the greatest criminal responsibility.

The violence ended in February when Kibaki and Odinga signed a power-sharing deal and committed to seeing the key perpetrators brought go to trial. They also committed themselves to seeing through wide-ranging reforms seen as essential for Kenya to avoid future violence. But little has been done.