ICC-indicted Kenyatta to make official visit to London
NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces international trial for crimes against humanity, will travel to London on Sunday for a three-day official visit, the presidency said.
Kenyatta, who will be making his first trip outside Africa as leader, will attend a conference on Somalia in London on Tuesday, but will "also hold bilateral meetings" with British Prime Minister David Cameron, an official Kenyan statement read.
Kenyatta, voted into power in March 4 elections, is to go on trial in July at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity related to post-election violence in 2007-2008.
London, like the rest of the European Union and other Western powers, has a policy of only "essential contact" with anyone charged by the ICC.
A British government source said the invitation to Kenyatta still counted as essential contact.
Britain's high commissioner to Kenya, Christian Turner, last week delivered a letter of invitation to Kenyatta to the conference, which will be co-hosted by Cameron and Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
"Kenya plays a vital role on Somalia, having nearly 5,000 troops in Somalia, and hosting more Somali refugees than any other nation," the British high commission said in a statement.
The pair also "discussed how the two countries would work together not only on the shared agendas of regional security and stability, but also prosperity and development."