Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said Darfur will become a "graveyard" for any foreign military contingent entering the region against Khartoum's will, newspapers reported on Sunday.

His comments came amid stepped-up efforts by the international community to send UN peacekeeping forces to war-torn Darfur in place of African Union troops, which have failed to quell the three-year-old bloodshed.

Al-Bashir, who accuses the United States and its allies of fomenting a conspiracy to plunder his country's resources, again accused the West of seeking to use the western region of Darfur as a launchpad to spread its interests in Sudan.

The United States, which currently holds chairmanship of the UN Security Council, saw its hopes of clinching a resolution for a UN mandate in Darfur by the end of the month dashed, but has said it will continue its efforts.

The transition is expected to be discussed during an AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa on 3 March.

Al-Bashir was also dismissive of the AU, which has hinted it will not oppose its own replacement in Darfur by a UN contingent.

"The African Union forces can leave the country if they believe that they have failed to carry out their duties," al-Bashir said.

There has been increased speculation that Nato would step in to operate the transition between AU and UN peacekeepers, an option supported by Darfur rebels but implacably opposed by Khartoum.

Al-Bashir found support for his resistance to a Western deployment among members of the opposition.

"We firmly reject any foreign intervention, particularly by the Americans, in Sudan," Fatima Ahmad Ibrahim, a communist legislator, said on Sunday at a parliament meeting.

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