New York, Aug 18, SPA -- The United States and Britain presented a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council Thursday, calling for stabilizing of the current African Union (AU) force, or AMIS, in Darfur and then transitioning it to a U.N. peacekeeping force. However, Sudan’s representative at the United Nations reiterated Khartoum’s view that no U.N. force would be allowed into Darfur.“As we negotiate this text, there will be clarity from the government of Sudan … [because] the agreement of the government of Sudan is quite crucial,” British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said before the meeting. “A U.N. operation should take place, and we should transition as soon as possible.” “Legally speaking, the AU has not the right to transfer [the mandate to the U.N.]. The Sudanese government is opposing the sending of troops, and I cannot see how anyone can envisage sending troops to a country which is not welcoming those troops,” Sudanese Ambassador Omar Al-Bashir told reporters after the council meeting. “For Sudan, it seems to us that now, for many actors, the issue of sending troops to Darfur is becoming intrinsically an objective, … not the stabilization of the Sudanese people to improve the situation in Darfur,” said Al-Bashir.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/383524