Sudan has agreed to a revised plan for a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force to be sent to Darfur.
The head of Sudan's delegation to two days of meetings on the issue in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Mutrif Siddig, confirmed that Khartoum had agreed to both options proposed by the AU and United Nations.
These were either 17,605 troops with rapid-reaction units or 19,555 troops without the rapid response facility, as well as more than 3,000 police officers.
'We agreed that priority should be given to finding troops from Africa,' Mr Siddig explained, but added: 'If there are not enough contributions from Africa, then troops can be brought in from elsewhere.'
The African Union's Peace and Security Commissioner, Said Djinnit, said agreement came after clarifications from AU and UN officials.
Mr Djinnit called on the UN Security Council to authorise the force's deployment without delay.
He said that Sudan had raised the issue of an exit strategy for the peacekeepers, and all parties agreed the operation would be periodically reviewed.
The majority of the troops would be African, he added.
Mr Siddig said the force command structure, which had been a sticking point between all sides, would be under the AU 'with the support of the UN'.
More than 200,000 people have died in the four-year conflict in the Darfur region.
