Kenyan president protests U.S. warning letters

NAIROBI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has sent a protest note to U.S. leader Barack Obama over warning letters issued to 15 prominent Kenyans Washington says are blocking political reform, a statement said on Saturday.

The recipients include government ministers, members of parliament and top civil servants on both sides of Kenya's coalition government, the U.S. embassy in Nairobi said.

The letters, from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, warned the recipients their future relationship with Washington was directly linked to their support for reforms and opposition to violence.

"President Mwai Kibaki has written to President Barack Obama ... expressing displeasure and concern about letters written ... to some ministers, some members of parliament and some civil servants in their personal capacity on matters of Kenya's public policy," a statement from Kibaki's office said.

"The action by the U.S. government official is considered out of step with international protocols in the conduct of relations between friendly nations."

Kenyan authorities have yet to bring to justice top perpetrators of post-election violence in 2008 that killed some 1,300 people and displaced 300,000 Kenyans.

Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo admitted this week that Kenya would not meet a Sept. 30 deadline to set up a special tribunal to try those behind the violence, raising the possibility of prosecutions by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.