Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he told President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga that he will ask the court in The Hague to allow him to formally open an investigation into the fighting, which erupted along tribal lines amid accusations by the opposition that Kibaki’s ruling party rigged a presidential election in December 2007.

Odinga was Kibaki’s rival, and the violence ended in February 2008 when they agreed to a power-sharing arrangement.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Thai-Cambodian tensions worsen

A diplomatic row between Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Cambodia has escalated, with the government in Bangkok recalling its ambassador to Phnom Penh after the Cambodian government appointed Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive former Thai prime minister, as an official adviser.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He was later convicted of breaching conflict-of-interest laws and sentenced in absentia to two years in prison.

Relations between the current Thai government, which is composed of Thaksin’s opponents, and Cambodia have also been strained by a border disagreement that has sparked clashes this year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has long had good relations with Thaksin, told participants at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit recently that the telecommunications billionaire is a victim of political persecution.