THE HAGUE - A Darfur rebel accused of leading a deadly attack against peacekeepers in the war-torn region surrendered on Sunday to the International Criminal Court to face war crimes charges, the court said.

Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, who led a splinter faction of the anti-government Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), will be the first to appear before the ICC over a long-running probe into the Darfur conflict, the court prosecutor said.

The court has issued three arrest warrants in connection with the Darfur investigation, including for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who has refused to cooperate.

Abu Garda arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday afternoon and was ordered to appear in court on Monday at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT), the court said.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who called the attack Abu Garda is accused of having led on African Union troops "the most serious attack against peacekeepers in Darfur," welcomed his decision to turn himself in.

"By killing peacekeepers, the perpetrators attacked the millions of civilians who those soldiers came to protect," he said in a statement.

"They came from Senegal, from Mali, from Nigeria, from Botswana, to serve and protect. They were murdered."

The attack against the peacekeepers at Haskanita in north Darfur in September 2007 killed 12 African Union soldiers and seriously wounded eight, a court statement said.

The court has not yet decided whether to issue arrest warrants for two other suspects alleged to have participated in the attack, a statement said.

"Abu Garda, member of the Zaghawa tribe of Sudan, is charged with three war crimes allegedly committed during an attack carried out on 29 September 2007 against the African Union mission in Sudan (AMIS)," the statement said.

The court said the attack was allegedly carried out by splinter forces of the JEM, under the command of Abu Garda, jointly with troops belonging to another armed group.

Abu Garda, believed to be in his 40s, is currently part of a group called the United Resistance Front, the court said.

"We have said several times that the URF is ready to cooperate with the court and we are agreeing to come to The Hague," the United Resistance Front's vice president, Sherif Adam Nassour, said by phone.

The court's pre-trial chamber had issued a summons for Abu Garda -- rather than a full arrest warrant. Under seal on May 7, that was lifted on Sunday.

The judges said a summons was deemed sufficient since the prosecutor said the suspect had expressed a willingness to appear before the court.

Abu Garda "voluntarily arrived in The Netherlands this afternoon in a commercial aircraft," the ICC said on Sunday.

"After his arrival, Abu Garda was notified by court officials of the order to appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber I tomorrow at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT).

"Following a meeting with his legal counsel he was conducted to a location assigned by the court for his stay in The Hague at 6.00 p.m."

On Monday, the court will read to Abu Garda the charges against him and will inform him of his rights.

Nassour said Abu Garda would return to Darfur after the hearing.

He will later have to return to The Hague for another hearing to determine whether there are "substantial grounds to believe that he committed the crimes charged," the court said.

The ICC has been investigating alleged war crimes in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region since 2005.

In March, the court issued the arrest warrant for Beshir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The United Nations says the six-year conflict has claimed 300,000 lives and that more than 2.2 million people have fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose up against the regime in February 2003.

Sudan says 10,000 people have been killed.

Operating since July 2002, the ICC is the world's only permanent tribunal charged with judging suspects of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.