(recasts with Annan on Sudan letter, Abuja meeting) By Alaa Shahine KHARTOUM, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Sudan said on Wednesday its position against the deployment of U.N. troops in Darfur prevailed at talks with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Ethiopia earlier this month. Presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail also said talks with rebel factions, which rejected a May peace deal signed by only one group, should begin in December to bring them on board. Ismail said meetings in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa between Annan and Sudan's Foreign Minister Lam Akol put aside U.N. Security Council resolution 1706, which authorised the deployment of up to 22,500 troops and police to quell the violence in Darfur, if Khartoum agreed. "The meetings...changed the relationship between the Sudanese government and the U.N. to dialogue instead of confrontation," Ismail told a news conference. "This is a big transformation in the U.N. position." Sudan had promised to send Annan a letter on Wednesday on the number of troops it would accept, the commander of the force and a special civilian representative. By midday in New York, no letter had arrived, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The letter, which could mark the beginning of negotiations, was timed to coincide with African Union (AU) talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja on the future of its 7,000-member force in Darfur. The AU session had been scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed to Thursday. "That may be linked to the fact we have not received a letter," Dujarric said. A communique announced by Annan and approved by Sudan on Nov. 16 in Addis Ababa, said "a hybrid operation" was agreed in principle, pending clarification of the size of the force. It said the force would have a "predominantly African character" with "backstopping and command-and-control structures" provided by the UN. The communique said the strength of the force should be 17,000 troops and 3,000 police but the Sudanese government still had to sign off on this figure. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Monday talk of a joint AU-U.N. force was a lie. AFRICAN CONTROL AND COMMAND "The talk now is about African troops, African control and an African command," Ismail said. Sudan has only accepted U.N. support in logistics, finance and in providing military and police experts, he said. "If President Bashir went to Abuja and found the idea proposed was (resolution) 1706 he will reject it. If he found the proposal was to turn the AU force into a U.N. force he will reject it," he said. The AU's peace and security committee is expected to extend the mandate of the under-funded and ill-equipped force of 7,000 that has been unable to stop the violence in Darfur despite the May peace agreement. The force's mandate expires on Dec. 31. Experts estimate that about 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government, accusing it of neglect. Ismail said the government planned to hold talks with rebel groups that did not sign the May peace agreement but was waiting for confirmation on the timing from Eritrea which will host the negotiations. The only signatories to the peace deal were the government and one faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Arcua Minnawi.
