The Sudanese Council of Ministers voiced its rejection on Sunday to foreign intervention in the country's internal affairs and the UN's takeover of the peacemaking mission from the African Union (AU) in Sudan's Darfur region.

The council made the rejection after hearing reports by the ministers of defense, foreign affairs and interior during a meeting chaired by President Omar al-Bashir.

In a statement issued following the meeting, the council affirmed its confidence in the AU's capability to continue keeping security in Darfur.

The council also reiterated the necessity of continuing diplomatic efforts and intensifying contacts with friendly countries as well as the international community in order to support the peacekeeping efforts by the AU.

Vowing further efforts toward a political solution to the Darfur conflict, the council declared its keenness on forming a united front and exposing the intentions of some foreign powers toward Sudan.

Meanwhile, official spokesman of the Council of Ministers, Omer Mohammed Salih, told a press conference that the reports of the ministers revealed that Sudan was targeted by foreign powers which utilized the Darfur conflict to justify their intervention in Sudan's internal affairs in a bid to control Sudan's politics and the huge natural wealth in Darfur.

He added that the Council of Ministers reviewed the peacekeeping efforts of the AU and the government's support to these efforts in order to solve the Darfur conflict through diplomatic and political measures.

The spokesman also accused Darfur rebels of "breaching the ceasefire agreement to complicate the situation in an effort to pave the way for foreign intervention."

The AU currently maintains some 7,800-strong forces in Sudan's Darfur region to help observe a shaky tentative ceasefire deal between Khartoum and Darfur rebels.

The pan-African bloc has struggled to keep order in the restive region due to severe financial shortages and logistical problems.

The AU has indicated that the deployment of the UN peacekeeping forces in Darfur to take over the AU's role would be inevitable in the long run.

But Sudan has rejected international peacekeeping forces, to which the United States is expected to make a big contribution, in Darfur.

Rebels took up arms in February 2003 in Sudan's arid Darfur region, accusing Khartoum of negligence.

Rounds of peace talks held under the auspices of the AU have so far failed to hammer out a solution to the conflict.

Source: Xinhua