Feb 26, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir warned Darfur would become a "graveyard" for any foreign military contingent entering the region against Khartoum’s will, newspapers reported Sunday.

Omar al-Beshir

"We are strongly opposed to any foreign intervention in Sudan and Darfur will be a graveyard for any foreign troops venturing to enter," he was quoted as saying Saturday.

His comments came amid stepped-up efforts by the international community to send UN peacekeeping forces to war-torn Darfur in place of African Union troops, which have failed to quell the three-year-old bloodshed.

Bashir, who regularly accuses the United States and its allies of fomenting a conspiracy to plunder his country’s resources, again accused the West of seeking to use the western region of Darfur as a launch pad to spread its interests in Sudan.

The United States, which currently chairs the UN Security Council, saw its hopes of clinching a resolution for a UN mandate in Darfur by the end of the month dashed but vowed to continue its efforts.

The transition is expected to be discussed during an AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa on March 3.

Bashir was also dismissive of the AU, which has hinted it would not oppose its own replacement by a UN contingent.

"The African Union forces can leave the country if they believe that they have failed to carry out their duties," Bashir said.

The war in Darfur broke out in February 2003 and has left up to 300,000 people dead and an estimated 2.4 million displaced.

There has been increased speculation that NATO would step in to operate the transition between AU and UN peacekeepers, an option supported by Darfur rebels but implacably opposed by Khartoum.

Bashir even found support for his resistance to a Western deployment among members of the opposition.

"We firmly reject any foreign intervention, particularly by the Americans, in Sudan," Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim, a communist MP, said Sunday at a Parliament meeting.

(ST/AFP)