ISTANBUL, August 19, 2008 (AFP) - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir joined African leaders Tuesday in Turkey for a summit in his first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court prosecutor sought his arrest for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Beshir's presence has cast a shadow over the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit, an event attended by leaders from some 50 African countries which Ankara hopes will foster its economic and political ties with the continent.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul met Beshir in bilateral talks Tuesday during which he urged the Sudanese leader to end the 'humanitarian tragedy' in Darfur, a Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Beshir responded that his government was not the sole party responsible for the conflict, the diplomat said.

Last month, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court to issue an arrest warrant against Beshir on 10 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the war-wracked region of Darfur.

Sudan flatly refuses any recognition of or dealings with the ICC, and has launched a diplomatic campaign to freeze any proceedings against Beshir.

Many African and Arab states have also called on the court not to interfere in Darfur, saying its efforts to prosecute war crimes could harm efforts to bring peace to the troubled region.

The United Nations says that up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since the Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003. Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.

Turkey hopes that the two-day Istanbul summit, the first of its kind, will help solidify its growing ties with the world's poorest continent.

The participants are expected to issue later Tuesday a declaration stressing their political will for increased cooperation as well as a framework document listing areas of cooperation, including trade and investment, agriculture and water, health, peace and security, infrastructure, energy, transport, culture, tourism and education.

The summit ends Wednesday with a businessmen's meeting.

Turkey which adopted an action plan in 1998 to open up to African countries, has seen its trade volume with the continent rise to 13 billion dollars (8.8 billion euros) in 2007 from nine billion dollars in 2005.

Ankara also expects to use the summit to drum up support for its bid for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council.

Turkey has campaigned hard for the seat, reaching out to countries with which it has had minimal ties ahead of a UN vote in October when two new non-permenent Security Council members will be elected for 2009-2010.