RIYADH, April 15 (Reuters) - Sudan is said to have signed an agreement with the United Nations and the African Union on the deployment of African and U.N. forces in Darfur, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
But in New York, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said "nothing official has been received on our end as of now."
The United Nations hopes to get some word from Sudan on Monday when top AU officials come to New York.
Saudi Arabia's "King Abdullah received a telephone call from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in which he informed him that the Sudanese government has signed an agreement with the United Nations and the AU that determines the duties and role of the African and U.N. forces in the Darfur region," SPA said.
The agency gave no further details about the agreement, which it said was brokered in Riyadh during the Arab summit held in the Saudi capital late in March.
The United Nations was nearing a deal with Khartoum that involved 3,000 U.N. military personnel and equipment in support of the 7,000-strong AU force under a so-called heavy support interim package.
Al-Bashir met U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Riyadh, at which time Sudan agreed to the interim package -- except for six attack helicopters the United Nations said it needed to protect the troops.
But Khartoum has rejected the next phase of the operation, a "hybrid" AU force of more than 20,000 troops and police.
Sudan's Foreign Minister Lam Akol said earlier on Sunday that Khartoum will take as many more AU troops as needed to stabilize Darfur but would not bow to international pressure to accept a U.N. force in the troubled region.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has pressed Sudanese officials to accept thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to support the world's biggest humanitarian effort there.
Experts estimate about 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have fled their homes since the Darfur conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against government forces, saying Khartoum had neglected the area. Khartoum is accused of arming militia who have killed, raped and pillaged.
