The African Union said it was planning to send a 2,000-strong peacekeeping force to Sudan's troubled Darfur region, which the United Nations says is the scene of the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
The pan-African body had initially planned to send just 300 soldiers to Darfur to protect its team of observers overseeing the implementation of a shaky ceasefire deal between the Khartoum government and two rebel groups.
"We are considering, with Nigeria and Rwanda, the possibility of sending two battalions, which makes approximately 2,000 men," AU spokesman Adam Thiam told AFP by phone Wednesday from the body's headquarters in Addis Ababa.
"(The force) is evolving into a mission to maintain peace... with probable logistical support from the United States," Thiam explained.
He said the force could be used to protect AU observers and displaced civilians returning to their homes in Darfur.
Discussions with Nigeria and Rwanda, the only African nations that have confirmed they will contribute troops, were "very advanced" and that the US was prepared to provide C130 Cessna aircraft from its military base in Djibouti to transport the troops, Thiam said.
Tanzania had also been approached and was interested in contributing to the force but Botswana had declined to participate, he added.
Rwanda said last month it was prepared to send 150 soldiers to Darfur by August 15 to protect the AU observers and Nigeria promised to despatch a similar number.
Those 300 soldiers had been due to deploy in Darfur from the end of July but their departure for the war-torn region has been delayed by around two weeks because of logistical problems, Thiam said.
On Wednesday the Rwandan government confirmed it was ready to contribute more soldiers but said the AU had not yet formally asked it for more troops.
"We have informed the African Union we are ready to send as many men as it needs there," Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande told AFP.
Murigande said the AU had not made an official request for a larger military contingent. "But they know we can increase the number very substantially," he added.
"It is important for those countries which are ready and able to do so to contribute to reinstating peace, security and stability on the African continent. We are prepared to play our modest role," he said.
The AU's efforts to bring the warring parties in Darfur to peace talks in Addis Ababa in mid-July failed when the two rebel groups -- the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement -- refused to enter into negotiations until the Sudanese government demiliratarises Darfur and brings war criminals to book.
Thiam told AFP the talks could resume before the end of August but the date and venue had yet to be determined. He added that the Darfur rebel chiefs were under pressure from the international community to attend.
The Darfur region -- where Khartoum confirmed on Tuesday that oil, copper and uranium deposits had been discovered -- has been riven by conflict since February 2003.
The United Nations describes the crisis there as the world's worst current humanitarian crisis.
It says up to 50,000 people have died and more than a million been driven from their homes since the rebels, fighting for the rights of the ethnic African minority, launched an uprising against the Sudanese army and its Arab militia allies. The Arab militias, called the Janjaweed, have been accused by rights groups and locals in Darfur of ethnic cleansing.
The fighting in Darfur has displaced 1.2 million people, including around 200,000 people who have fled to camps in neighbouring Chad, where their security is also precarious.
Currently the AU has about 120 observers and ceasefire commission in Darfur, overseeing the implementation of a ceasefire that was signed in April but which has often been violated.
Last week the UN Security Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution sponsored by US and Britain, warning the Sudanese government to halt atrocities in the troubled region within 30 days, or face international action.
The resolution, which avoided the term "sanctions", made no mention of the possible use of force, although western officials have spoken of sending troops to Darfur to try to force an end to the crisis.
Faced with international pressure, Khartoum's Islamic regime has reluctantly accepted the resolution.
But on Wednesday, tens of thousands of people marched on UN offices in Khartoum to protest against the UN resolution and reject any foreign intervention in the war-torn province.
The UN's World Food Programme has started airdropping food supplies to remote areas of Darfur and French troops stationed in Chad are airlifing relief aid to refugees on the sweltering Chad-Sudan border.
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