The Sudanese government and the African Union (AU) were holding intensive consultations on a possible extension of the pan-African body's peacekeeping mission in the troubled Darfur region, local media reported on Saturday.

A delegation from the AU Peace and Security Council would arrive in Khartoum in the next few days to continue the consultations, the reports said.

The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1706 last week calling for the deployment of up to 20,000 troops and police to replace the ill-equipped AU forces in Darfur.

Sudan said on Monday it would allow African troops to remain in Darfur only under AU control and gave the AU a week to decide whether to extend its mandate beyond Sept. 30, or leave Darfur.

In an interview with Qatar's al-Jazeera television on Friday, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha reiterated Sudan's refusal of transferring the AU mission in Darfur to the United Nations.

He said that the Darfur Peace Agreement, brokered by the AU between Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups in May, did not permit any party to hand over its mission or tasks to world organizations.

"An interference of international forces is not justified," the Sudanese vice president stressed.

Denying Khartoum's intention to expel the African troops, Taha said the Sudanese government was making efforts to consolidate the AU existence in Darfur and help the AU mission fulfill its security and political role completely.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of marginalizing the region.

Hundreds of people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the three-year-old conflict.

Source: Xinhua