quote:

---

The United States demanded an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday over a letter in which Sudan's government said it would view any troop commitments to a future peacekeeping force in Darfur as a "hostile act."

The unsigned letter addressed to several UN missions, dated Oct. 3, also said troop commitments would be seen as a "prelude to an invasion."

In the letter, Sudan reiterated that it rejects a Security Council resolution passed in August that would seek to give the UN authority over an African Union peacekeeping mission that has been unable to stem the violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

The letter refers to a note sent by the UN asking nations to nominate police personnel for an unspecified force.

---

Can West:

quote:

---

Sudan is believed to have included Canada among the countries it wanted to warn about deployment because Canadian officials attended a Sept. 25 meeting about the world body's efforts to build a force for Darfur. The UN Security Council this summer authorized the deployment of about 17,500 UN troops to the region to relieve a 7,000-strong African Union force that has been unable to keep a lid on the violence there.

But the Arab-led Sudanese government, which Western countries believe is sponsoring attacks by Arab militia on black Darfuris, has said it doesn't want UN soldiers there.

"Canada received a copy of the letter and we are very concerned by the continued rejection of a UN transition," said Rejean Beaulieu, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs.

---