The United Nations and African Union (AU) have finalized a draft agreement on the proposed joint hybrid operation in Darfur, a UN spokesperson said Thursday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent the draft, which was completed following close consultations with the chairman of the AU Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, to the Security Council president, U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters.

The proposal is also being sent to the AU Peace and Security Council and the next step is for the joint proposal to be presented to Sudan, she added.

Khalilzad told reporters that the 15-member Security Council would study the draft agreement on Thursday afternoon and could adopt a presidential statement on it Friday.

The AU, the United Nations and the Sudanese government agreed last November on a three-phase support plan, also known as the Annan plan as it was put forward by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

With the first phase of the plan, also known as a light support package, already underway, Sudan announced on April 16 that it approved the inauguration of the second phase, also known as "the heavy support phase."

The second phase involves the deployment of 3,000 UN troops and six attack helicopters in Darfur to support the 7,800-strong African force, as well as preparation for the next phase, in which a much larger UN force would be sent to the region.

Source: Xinhua