KHARTOUM, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government on Sunday renewed objection to a UN takeover of the current African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Sudan's western region of Darfur.

    It also vowed to undertake peacekeeping operation if the AU gave up its mission in the region.

    "If the AU abandons the mandate entrusted to the pan-African bloc by the Sudanese government, the government is ready to undertake the peacekeeping mission in Darfur," said a statement following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Omer al-Bashir.

    "The Council of Ministers reiterated refusal of transferring the mission from the AU to the UN," the statement said.

    Khartoum is facing mounting pressure for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Darfur to replace the underfunded and ill-equipped AU forces.

    Arguing that the peace agreement which the government signed with a main Darfur rebel faction on May 5 does not provide for a UN military role in the region, al-Bashir has said the deployment of the UN forces in Darfur without consent of his government was equal to colonization.

    The United States, however, kept pressing for UN peacekeepers' deployment in Darfur despite fierce opposition from Sudan.

    "I think our diplomacy is going to be consistent," US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Wednesday, adding that the U.S. diplomacy "is based on a strong and unified international consensus, frankly, that the current peacekeeping mission in Darfur must be transferred to a UN force."

    During a four-day visit to Sudan last week, chief of the AU Commission Alpha Oumar Konare promised that the international community would not on any occasion deploy troops in Sudan without consent of the Sudanese government. Enditem