The Netherlands is prepared to send a small contingent of troops to the conflict-ridden Sudanese region of Darfur, Dutch Defense Minister Elmert van Middelkoop said Thursday.

Speaking during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Middelkoop said Dutch soldiers would probably be sent as part of a European Union mission in cooperation with the United Nations.

He said a NATO Darfur mission is unlikely.

The Sudanese government on Tuesday agreed to accept a hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission to be deployed in Darfur, which would take up to 20,000 soldiers.

The operation is the third phase of a three-step process to replace the existing but under-resourced AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) , which has been unable to end the fighting in Darfur.

Source: Xinhua