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Sudan's government is uneasily waiting for a judgement to be made by the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council on the fate of the 7,800-strong African peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

It is still uncertain whether the council will reach an agreement at a meeting on March 10 on a UN takeover of the peacekeeping mission in the restive western region of the largest African country. The proposal has been rejected repeatedly by the Sudanese government.

Considering the proposed replacement of the underfunded AU forces an intervention in its internal affairs, Sudan has won the support of several African countries in the AU Peace and Security Council to thwart the scheme.

Al-Taib Zain al-Abedin, a professor of the politics in the Khartoum University, explained that the Sudanese government insisted on the position for three fears, the first of which was an international existence in Darfur could weaken the government's control in the region and its capability to curb rebel violence.

The second fear was that the international forces would come with authorization of safeguarding civilians, which could diminish the government's sovereignty and deprive it of one of its original rights, the professor said, adding that the third fear was that the international forces could be given the power to hunt down war criminals, whom the government has refused to hand over to the international court in the Hague.

However, al-Abedin could not rule out the possibility of the AU yielding to pressure from the United States and other western countries to request the UN takeover of the peacekeeping operation.

But the move to deploy a UN peacekeeping force met resistance in the AU as Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa pressed for a continuous AU role in Darfur.

Fathi Khalil, chief of Sudan's Bar Association, stressed the necessity for the AU and the UN to take his country's position into consideration before making any decision on Darfur, since the peacekeeping forces' deployment had to be agreed upon, in the first place, by the Sudanese government.

"The existence of international forces in Darfur could be regarded by the Sudanese people as a kind of occupation which could lead to their resistance of any form," Khalil added.

The meeting of the foreign ministers of the AU Peace and Security Council, which had been slated for the beginning of this month, was postponed to March 10 due to extended consultations.

The AU sent some 7,800-strong forces, including troops and observers, to Darfur after the Sudanese government and two main rebel groups signed a ceasefire agreement in April 2004.

In January, the AU said it could not afford maintaining its peacekeeping mission in Darfur and agreed in principle to a UN takeover of the mission.

Sudan has threatened to withdraw from the AU if the pan-African bloc made the decision to quit Darfur.

"We will resist this attempt and respond strongly to it even if that leads to the withdrawal from the AU and the review of Sudan's membership in the African organization," spokesman of the Sudanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim told Xinhua on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over a million displaced since rebel groups took arms in early 2003, accusing the government of neglecting the arid region.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)