UN chief Kofi Annan said late Thursday that Sudan has agreed 'in principle' to the deployment a 'hybrid' United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region.
In a statement released after hours of discussions with AU, Arab League and African officials at the Addis Ababa headquarters of the African Union, the outgoing UN chief said the proposed transformation of the current AU mission into one involving the world body had been agreed.
"A hybrid operation (phase three) is also agreed in principle, pending clarification of the size of the force," Annan said. "Appointment of senior officials in the hybrid operation will be discussed between stakeholders."
Phase one and two refer to the build-up of the existing AU force and provision of major UN support to the African mission, which has been criticised for not having the means to stop the escalating violence in Darfur.
Phase three is the merging of the AU force, known as AMIS, with a UN mission, although Annan said in his statement that the hybrid force would have to be "predominantly African."
He said the UN and AU would call a meeting of all parties that have not signed a May peace deal -- mainly two Darfur rebel groups -- within two weeks to discuss the matter.
Annan's statement appeared to signal a change in the position of Khartoum, which has vehemently opposed any significant UN role in Darfur, arguing it would be a violation of its sovereignty and could worsen the situation there.
Abdulmahmoud Abduhaleem, Sudan's UN envoy, said the proposal could be "largely accepted" by Khartoum, which has been vehemently opposed to any UN role in Darfur.
Khartoum has especially fought a UN Security Council resolution that authorised a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force without its approval, but Abduhaleem said Thursday's agreement was different.
"This is a new plan that can be largely accepted by Sudan and takes 1706 to the graveyard," he said, referring to the number of Security Council resolution that the authorised the UN force. "1706 is dead."
This would be a "very special type of operation" with the UN "paying for the AU to do the job," Abduhaleem told reporters.
Earlier Thursday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said his government was willing to allow some international logistical support for the AU mission in Darfur but would never accept UN command of the force.
And, asked by reporters about the possibility of blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers in Darfur, he replied simply "No."
The UN chief, on his final tour of Africa as the world's top diplomat before stepping down at year's end, met with AU commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare and AU Peace and Security Council chief Said Djinnit.
In addition to Abduhaleem and Akol, representatives from Gabon and Congo, the current AU chair, and the Arab League, were also present.
Annan said Wednesday he was hopeful about the meeting and had not given up hope for UN peacekeepers in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million others displaced by three years of war.
He also said the United Nations was looking at sending UN staff to neighbouring Chad.
But some diplomats had questioned the reasoning behind Thursday's meeting at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, noting that Annan is a short-timer out and will be replaced in January by South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon.
"Everyone is holding to their position and knows that Kofi Annan is on his way out," one AU official told AFP.
A UN official said Sudan has already made contact with Ban who will replace Annan as the head of the world body in January 1, 2007.
The war in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes took up arms to demand an equal share of national resources, prompting a heavy-handed crackdown from the government forces and proxy militia called Janjaweed.