Millions of Darfuris are homeless due to three years of fighting

The debate turned into an unruly quarrel in Sudan's National Assembly on Wednesday after Lam Akol, the foreign minister, gave a statement saying Sudan should "be more flexible" about the prospect of a UN deployment to Darfur.

Deputies said one member of the ruling National Congress Party, which dominates government and the assembly, called those in favour of UN troops "traitors and spies".

Deng Dongrin, a member from southern Sudan, said: "This created a big row and the speaker was not able to control the assembly and people were shouting insults at each other."

A member of parliament who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "There were divided views in parliament, but we are waiting for the outcome of the talks between the government and the UN."

Troubleshooter

Lakhdar Brahimi, an Algerian diplomat, and Hedi Annabi, senior UN peacekeeping official, have been in Khartoum this week but have so far failed to persuade Sudan to agree to the first step before a UN force can be deployed - allowing a technical team into the country to begin mission planning.

Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to meet al-Bashir

Prior to a May 5 Darfur peace deal, Sudan had rejected a UN take over from ill-equipped African Union forces in Darfur, but has since said it will negotiate with the world body over the mandate and size of a possible force in Darfur.

Tens of thousands of people are said to have been killed and more than two million displaced during three years of violence in Darfur.

The United States calls the violence genocide, a charge Khartoum rejects.

The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes in the region.

Brahimi, after two days of talks, is expected to meet Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the president.

A government source said: "That meeting will be the decider - then we will know what the government will do."

Brahimi said talks had gone well and the government and the UN had reached a "joint vision" on Wednesday. He declined to elaborate.

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