AMSTERDAM, (Reuters) – A Darfur rebel leader accused  of killing African Union peacekeepers in 2007 is expected to  appear before the International Criminal Court today and is  already in The Hague, the ICC said yesterday.

Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, who has denied the charges, has shown  a willingness to attend the court in response to its summons,  the court said in a statement. He flew in to the Netherlands yesterday.

He would be the first rebel to stand before the ICC after  the court’s prosecutor accused him and two others of what AU  officials called the bloodiest assault on peacekeepers since the  Darfur conflict began in 2003.

The ICC said judges had decided it was unnecessary to issue  an arrest warrant since he was ready to appear voluntarily.

In November 2008, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo  requested arrest warrants for three Darfur rebels including Abu  Garda. He said the rebels orchestrated the attack at the  Haskanita AU camp in September 2007, killing 12 peacekeepers.

Abu Garda, the head of the insurgent United Resistance Front  faction, has denied any involvement in the attack and said last  November he was prepared to go The Hague. “I will go, no  problem,” he said. “I know I was not involved”.

Charged with three war crimes alleged to have been committed  during the Haskanita attack, Abu Garda has been ordered to  appear before the court at 1300 GMT today.

“By killing peacekeepers, the perpetrators attacked the  millions of civilians who those soldiers came to protect,”  prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement. “Attacking  peacekeepers is a serious crime … and shall be prosecuted.”