The French prime minister said the humanitarian crisis in conflict-wracked Darfur should be at the top of the U.N. agenda and called for shuttle diplomacy to try to reach a political solution.

A U.N. human rights team is accusing Sudan's government of direct involvement with war crimes in Darfur.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has released the State Department's 2006 Human Rights report, which cites the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region as "the most sobering reality of all."

The U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, returned to that country Friday in a new effort to expedite deployment of an upgraded peacekeeping force for the Darfur region. The proposed hybrid African Union and United Nations force remains under-subscribed.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has arrived in Libya for talks on Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

French and African leaders ended a two-day summit in Cannes, Friday with a call for Sudan to facilitate deployment of U.N. peacekeepers. The participants also demanded a solution to the violence that has erupted in Guinea.

An influential lawmaker says the United States and its international partners need to plan for possible deployment of a peacekeeping force to protect civilians in Darfur, without the permission of Sudan's government, if diplomacy fails.

Bush administration officials say the United States is prepared to impose sanctions against Sudan if it does not follow through on a stated commitment to allow an expanded peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur region. However, they say U.N. member states have not yet pledged enough troops to put the Sudanese promise to the test.