(Adds Ban Ki-moon reaction, paragraphs 3-4) By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (Reuters) - The United States and Britain considered on Tuesday expanding U.N. Security Council sanctions on Sudan, but China, Russia and South Africa were wary such action would stop violence in Darfur. Although penalties, such as an international arms embargo, would have more impact than unilateral U.S. sanctions that President George W. Bush announced on Tuesday, U.N. bans against Sudan have been hard to enforce. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has been talking to Sudanese leaders, refused to comment directly on U.S. or U.N. sanctions but indicated they may interfere with his consultations. "We will have to see," he said, adding: "I need some more time" to negotiate with Sudan on a 23,000-strong African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force. The plans were sent to Khartoum only last week. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad did not say when such a resolution, which was not discussed in the council on Tuesday, would be distributed. But the United States and Britain have had a text ready for weeks. "We will coordinate with our allies" and the secretary-general, Khalilzad told reporters. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin questioned the timing of a resolution because of Ban's talks, saying they indicated a split between "the secretary-general and the Security Council." The Council has imposed an arms embargo on rebels and militia but not on the government, although it forbid offensive military flights by Khartoum over Darfur, where more than 200,000 people are estimated to have died and at least 2 million people have been uprooted since 2003. The 15-member body also put travel and financial sanctions on four people. The United States and Britain are considering an arms embargo over the entire country, a cessation of all military flights over Darfur, monitors at Sudanese airports, and an expansion of the list of individuals under sanctions. SUDAN COOPERATION URGED In Beijing on Tuesday, China's representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, who has been acting as envoy on Darfur, said "pressure and sanctions" did not help resolve problems. "Expanding sanctions can only make the problem more difficult to resolve," Liu told a news conference. And in New York, South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, also urged patience and asked what the strategy would be if sanctions were applied. "Right now the surprising thing was that we were thinking the government of Sudan was now beginning to take the right actions and agree to what we were going to do," he said. "It's not clear which way we are going." But Khalilzad said sanctions and diplomacy could work together to put pressure on Khartoum, the rebels and neighboring countries. "My message to the Government of Sudan is that it is imperative they cooperate with the important benchmarks," such as ceasing all attacks, dismantling the Janjaweed militia, allowing uninterrupted humanitarian aid and agreeing on a large peacekeeping force, he said. Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir stalled for months in accepting U.N. peacekeeping support packages to the African Union of 7,000, a prelude to a large force of more than 23,000 troops and police. He has opposed the large number of troops. Non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur four years ago, accusing the government of not heeding their plight. Khartoum then armed some Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, who raped, killed and pillaged. In the last year Arab and non-Arab tribes have been fighting among themselves, shattering an earlier peace accord. The United Nations and the African Union are trying to restart peace talks among a dozen rebel groups and the government.
