Sudan said today it would retaliate if foreign troops entered the country to quell ethnic violence in its western Darfur region and accused Washington of trying to topple the Islamist government.
Khartoum went on the diplomatic offensive a day after envoys at the United Nations said Washington was expected to call a UN vote this week on Darfur, although China, Pakistan and others object to threatening sanctions against Sudan.
Britain and Australia have said they might send troops to Darfur, where rebels accuse the government of backing Arab militias in an ethnic cleansing campaign against black Africans in the arid region. The US Congress has branded it genocide.
"If we are attacked we will not sit silent, we will retaliate ... but we definitely hope we do not reach that situation," Sudanese Foreign Minister Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail told a news conference during a visit to Turkey.
So far no country has said it will send troops and no UN decision has been made on deploying a peacekeeping force.
Mr Ismail blamed the rebels for the violence in Darfur that the UN says has triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis with around 1.5 million people displaced and some 30,000 killed.
"Sudan never started this war ... But we admit the government is responsible for bringing back law and order, for disarming the militias," said Mr Ismail, whose government says it is making progress on security and aid in Darfur.
Rebels repeated calls for Washington, the European Union and the African Union (AU) to send in troops to protect civilians.
The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), one of the two main rebel groups, said it was ready to start peace talks if Khartoum pursued them as seriously as it had efforts to end a separate conflict with rebels in the south of Africa's largest country.
The rebels says the government arms the militias, a charge denied by Khartoum, and both sides have accused each other of violating a ceasefire agreed in April.