Arrest threat bad for Darfur talks: Bashir

ACCRA (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said Thursday a possible indictment against him for war crimes threatens to derail Darfur peace talks and enlisted support from the 79-nation ACP bloc against the prosecution.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked the court's judges in July to charge Bashir with genocide in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and to issue a warrant for his arrest.

"It impedes the Darfur peace talks by sending negative signals to Darfur rebel movements to distance themselves from the negotiating table," Bashir said.

He was speaking in the Ghanaian capital at the opening ceremony of the meeting of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) leaders, of which he holds the revolving presidency.

A draft summit declaration seen by Reuters called for "the withdrawal of the ICC demarche to allow for the political and diplomatic efforts to address the situation in Darfur."

The Arab League and African Union have said moves to indict Bashir could disrupt the peace process, while China, a close ally of the oil-producing African state, has also voiced concern at the attempt to try Bashir.

Speaking through an interpreter, Bashir said the ICC chief prosecutor's move was politically motivated.

"It also threatens the democratic transformation in Sudan where political parties have braced themselves for elections next year, and will have a catastrophic impact on stability in the entire region," he said.

"In spite of all this I wish to affirm our commitment to implement the peace agreements and settle the Darfur conflict through negotiations," Bashir said.

Bashir left Accra shortly after he delivered his speech to open the summit.

Though Ghana has ratified the ICC treaty, a government source said prior to Bashir's visit that Ghana was unlikely to arrest the Sudanese President during his stay even if the court issued a warrant.

International experts say more than five years of fighting in Darfur has already killed 200,000 people and driven more than 2.5 million from their homes, prompting the world's largest humanitarian operation. Khartoum says 10,000 have died.

The conflict started in early 2003 when mostly non-Arab groups launched a rebellion, accusing Khartoum of neglect.

(Additional reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; writing by Daniel Magnowski; editing by Alistair Thomson)