Egypt will host a mini-African summit on the crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region on April 20 at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian foreign ministry official said Sunday.

"Leaders from five African countries, namely Chad, Egypt, Libya,Nigeria and Sudan, will meet to discuss the situation in Darfur," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Leaders from the five countries held a summit in the Libyancapital Tripoli last October, during which they vowed to resolve the Darfur crisis within an African framework and rejected any external interference.

The African Union has a force of around 2,000 in Darfur monitoring a ceasefire between Darfur rebels and government forces. The truce is frequently broken.

African Union-sponsored peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja have so far failed to yield result.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army and the Movement of Equality and Justice took arms against the government.

Clashes between the rebels and government forces and pro-government militias have created what the United Nations called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

The UN Security Council adopted on Thursday a resolution to refer alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Sudanese government on Sunday officially announced its rejection to the United Nations Security Council resolution 1593,saying the resolution "targets Sudan and its leadership."

Source: Xinhua