Kenya''s deputy president appears before ICC

THE HAGUE - Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto appeared at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday for the opening of his trial on charges of co-orchestrating a post-election bloodbath five years ago.

The trials of Ruto and of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, which will start in November, will test the stability of a country seen as vital to security in East Africa.

They have split public opinion, and witness testimonies of the violence in 2008 that killed more than a thousand people could stir tension.