ANKARA, July 27 (AFP) - Sudan warned the international community Tuesday it would take steps to defend itself in the case of outside intervention to end violence in the crisis-ridden Darfur region in the west of the country.
"We are not looking for confrontation, and we hope that we will not be pushed to that," Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Ankara.
"But, if we are being forced to do so, if we are being attacked, definitely we are not going to sit silent, we will retaliate or we will hit back. But we hope that we are not going to reach that situation," said Ismail, who is visiting Turkey after a tour of European countries.
"The rebels should be held responsible for the catastrophic situation which results from their attack and their violence at the conflict in Darfur."
He said it was Khartoum's responsibility to disarm the militias and to arrest the Janjaweed Arab militias. His country was "going to continue implementing what we signed with the secretary general (of the United Nations) on July 3rd, faithfully and in full transparency."
Darfur is, according to the UN, the scene of the world's worst current humanitarian crisis as a result of the conflict between local rebels and pro-government Arab militias backed by the armed forces.
The number of dead in the 17-month conflict is put at between 30,000 and 50,000. About 1.2 million people have fled their homes and 200,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring Chad. A ceasefire agreed in April has not been observed.
Khartoum undertook earlier this month to disarm the militias, facilitate humanitarian action and work for a political settlement of the crisis, as the UN and the United States have demanded.
But in recent days there has been growing international pressure on Khartoum and some states have spoken of the possiblility of military intervention on humanitarian grounds.
The European Union on Monday urged the United Nations to pass a resolution warning of sanctions on Sudan if it fails to end the conflict, prompting a reply by the Sudanese foreign minister that "threats" were counterproductive.
Britain has said it could send 5,000 troops to the region if required, and Australia said it was considering a UN request for military personnel to join any mission deployed there.