Bush says won't send U.S. troops to Darfur alone

By Caren Bohan

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, who has been pushing for the United Nations to take stronger action in Darfur, on Thursday said he would not unilaterally send U.S. troops to that region of Sudan.

The United States, which calls the situation in Darfur "genocide," in May tightened sanctions against Sudan to press the Sudanese government to end the bloodshed.

"I made the decision not to send U.S. troops unilaterally into Darfur," Bush said in Tennessee where he made a speech and responded to an audience question on Sudan.

"I made the decision in consultation with allies as well as consultations with members of Congress and activists and I came to the conclusion that it just wasn't the right decision," he said.

"Therefore, what do you do? And if one is unwilling to take on actions individually, it requires international collaboration and so we're now at the United Nations," Bush said.

The U.N. Security Council is considering a resolution on the deployment of a joint U.N.-African Union force to deal with the violence in Sudan's western region.

Sudan, under international pressure, in June agreed to a U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force of more than 20,000, but many diplomats doubt Khartoum will keep its word.

Bush, who discussed Darfur with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the White House earlier this week, expressed frustration with the United Nations, calling it a "slow, tedious" process.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 2.5 million driven from their homes since violence erupted in 2003. Khartoum puts the death toll at 9,000.