U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad admitted on Tuesday that the United States is consulting with its allies in the Security Council on the content and timing of a resolution broadening economic and military sanctions against Sudan.

    "I don't have anything on the timing at this point," he told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York. "We will move forward on the resolution. We just started consulting."

    Meanwhile, the U.S. envoy reaffirmed his support for the draft agreement finalized recently by AU-UN on the proposed joint hybrid operation in Darfur, which is part of an agreement reached by the AU, the United Nations and the Sudanese government last November on a three-phase support plan.

    French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere expressed cautious support to the U.S.-proposed new sanctions, saying "maybe sanctions won't be necessary. Maybe they will."

    "We are of the view that working on sanctions would be useful but we have to consult with other members of the council," he told reporters.

    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that he needs more time to tackle issues concerning Sudan although he did not oppose U.S. proposal clearly, hoping the international community "can work in a mutually reinforcing way to bring resolution on this matter as soon as possible."

    He said he is in close touch with the major key players of the international community in the region to bring a resolution to the situation in Darfur, adding "I am very much committed to work as fast as I can to bring a comprehensive resolution in the political process, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian matters."

    Ban also hoped the technical consultation between parties concerned will take place early next week, and would like first of all see how the situation will develop.

    Khalilzad's South African counterpart Dumisani Kumalo rebuffed U.S. efforts to table any new sanctions for the time being, and instead urged patience on the issue rather than a rush towards sanctions.

    "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."

    Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin echoed Kumalo by expressing similar opinions, adding that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been working with Sudan and "there have been some positive developments."

    He said a sanctions resolution "would be a departure between the secretary-general and the Security Council" who was now consulting with Sudan and organizing political talks.

    U.S. President George W. Bush announced earlier on Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department would step up efforts to squeeze the Sudanese economy by targeting government-run ventures involved with its booming oil business, which does many of its transactions in U.S. dollars.

    Washington will also seek new UN Security Council sanctions against Khartoum, as well as a provision preventing the Sudanese government from conducting military flights in Darfur, Bush said.