Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said Saturday that Thursday's meeting on Darfur issue, held in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, was an "important and successful step" towards reaching a unified stand, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported.

The AL chief said that two steps out of three proposals on the formation of peacekeeping troops in Sudan's restive western region of Darfur were agreed upon at the meeting.

Under the agreement, the peacekeeping forces operating in Darfur should be built up mostly of African Union (AU) forces, under African command and with logistic and technical assistance of the UN, said Moussa.

Such a matter created a positive participation of the UN and the AU, said Moussa, adding that there were still two pending points related to the number of troops and the nature of the command, which both depended on the Sudanese government's decision.

He added that an important working paper and recommendations in this respect presented by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also helped reaching of the agreement.

Earlier in the day, Sudan denied reports that it had agreed on the deployment of a AU-UN mixed peacekeeping force in Darfur as announced by Annan.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told a press conference that "We have not agreed on a mixed force ... what we have agreed is that the peacekeeping force in Darfur remains an African one supported by the UN."

Lam Akol ruled out any possibility that the Sudanese government would give a green light for the deployment of the mixed force in Darfur.

Lam Akol's comments came two days after Annan announced that Sudan had agreed "in principle" to a mixed UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur following Thursday's meeting between UN, AU and Arab officials in Addis Ababa.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Aug. 31 calling for the deployment of more than 20,000 international peacekeepers to replace the 7,800-strong AU forces in Darfur.

But the Sudanese government has rejected the mission transfer, saying it was a violation of Sudan's sovereignty and an effort by the West to colonize the African oil producing country.

The AU Peace and Security Council agreed in September to extend the mandate of its forces in Darfur to the end of this year with the helps to be provided by the UN and the international society.

The 22-member Arab League, which also hosts Sudan, has been firmly supporting Sudan on its stance regarding the deployment of international forces.

Source: Xinhua