¡¡UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council Tuesdayvoted unanimously for a resolution to speed up the planning for the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in war-battered Darfur, west Sudan.

    The U.S.-drafted resolution endorsed Monday's decision of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council that concrete steps should be taken to effect the transformation of the AU mission currently deployed in Darfur into a UN force after Khartoum and Darfur's largest rebel group signed a peace deal on May 6.

    The resolution called for the deployment on the ground of a joint UN-Africa Union (AU) assessment team within one week to lay the groundwork for the UN operation.

    The council called on the parties to the peace deal -- the Sudanese government and the main faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) -- to work with the AU and the UN to accelerate thetransition.

    The council also expressed its intention to take "strong and effective measures" -- diplomatic parlance for sanctions -- against any individual or group that violates or attempts to blockthe implementation of the peace agreement. The measures could be atravel ban and assets freeze.

    The resolution also urged the other two rebel groups in Darfur that have not yet signed the agreement to do so without delay.

    Under the resolution, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would submit recommendations to the council within one week of the assessment team's return on all relevant issues, including force requirements and cost estimates, for a UN operation.

    Annan has strongly backed the AU's call for a transition from the AMIS to a UN force. While urging support for the African mission, he told the council earlier this month that "we all now agree that this can only be a stopgap measure, and that as soon aspossible AMIS must be transformed into a larger and more mobile United Nations operation, better equipped and with a stronger mandate."

    Annan has written to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir seeking permission for the deployment of the joint assessment team.Khartoum has been opposed to the deployment of a UN mission in Darfur before a peace deal is signed by all parties concerned.

    Darfur, bordering Chad, has been mired in a brutal internal conflict since early 2003, which pits the government and tribal militias against two rebel groups -- the SLM and the Justice and Equality Movement. The SLM broke up into two factions this year due to differences over the peace process.

    The conflict, branded by UN officials as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, has left a large number of people killed and nearly two million others displaced. Enditem