WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President George W. Bush called NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Friday, with the two sides having discussed ways to deal with the worsening situation in Sudan's Darfur region.

    "They discussed the steps NATO has already taken to assist in stopping the violence and what additional actions NATO might take in the future," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

    The conversation took place one day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the House International Relations Committee that "on Darfur, our policy is unchanged. It is our view that genocide was committed and in fact continues in Darfur." Washington has called the Darfur violence genocide and blamed Khartoum and its allied militia, a charge the Sudanese authorities deny.

    The United States, which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council this month, is trying to push through a resolution to replace the financially-strapped 7,000-strong African Union force in Darfur with a UN peacekeeping mission.

    Tens of thousands were reportedly killed and more than two million forced to flee their homes by the fighting and a widespread campaign of rape, killing and burning in non-Arab villages since the Darfur revolt began in early 2003.  Enditem