The deployment of any peacekeeping forces in Sudan's Darfur should get the permission from the Sudanese government first, said visiting African Union (AU) Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare on Monday.

"No soldiers should go to Sudan without the permission of the Sudanese government because it's not about making war with the Sudanese people but helping them," he told the Caracas-based television station Telesur here.

His remarks came as Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed el-Bashir accused Washington of using the Darfur issue to re-colonize Sudan.

The AU currently has 7,000 peacekeeping forces in the conflict-hit Darfur.

The United Nations Security Council, despite Khartoum's opposition, adopted a resolution in late August, authorizing the deployment of 17,000 UN peacekeeping forces in the Darfur region to replace the AU forces, which, due to the lack of funds, have experienced difficulties in coping with the humanitarian disaster. But the UN forces will not be deployed without the approval of the Sudanese government.

The Sudanese government argued it would lead to flagrant foreign interference in its internal affairs and re-colonization of the country.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when anti-government forces accused the government of marginalizing the region and took up arms against it.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and up to 2.5 million others displaced as a result of the turmoil.

Source: Xinhua