HAVANA - Sudan's president again rejected the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping troops in the war-torn Darfur region during a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Saturday. But one of the country's two vice presidents said he would accept international intervention.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, left, and actor George Clooney, right, look on as U.S. ambassador John Bolton speaks during a news conference after addressing members of the Security Council at the United Nations in New York Thursday Sept. 14, 2006. The struggle over human rights in Sudan's Darfur region is coming to New York, with speeches Thursday from Wiesel and Clooney and a weekend demonstration at Central Park.[AP]

Annan urged the government of Sudan in an editorial distributed Saturday to accept the U.N. Security Council's decision to replace the largely ineffective African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur with better-equipped U.N. troops.

"There can be no military solution to the crisis in Darfur," Annan wrote. "All parties should have understood by now, after so much death and destruction, that only a political agreement in which all stakeholders are fully engaged can bring real peace to the region."

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir rejected his appeal.

"Justice is and remains our objective but through diplomatic, political and other means," he said, according to the English translation of his speech in Arabic. "That's why we reject this position." Al-Bashir made the remarks at a news conference in Cuba, where he and Annan were attending the Nonaligned Movement summit.

At least 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than 2 million have fled their homes since 2003 when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led government. The government is accused of unleashing brutal Arab militiamen known as janjaweed in the remote western province.

First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit welcomed U.N. intervention. He heads the Sudan People's Liberation Movement ¡ª a former southern rebel group that made peace with Khartoum in January 2005.

"The aggravation of the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur necessitates intervention of international forces to protect civilians from the atrocities of the janjaweed militias so long as the government is not capable of protecting them," Kiir was quoted as saying in remarks published Saturday by the independent Al-Sudani daily.

The Darfur Peace Agreement, signed in May, calls for a cease-fire, disarmament of militias and a protection force for civilians ¡ª but does not specify the composition of such a force.

Last month, the Security Council passed a resolution demanding a better-funded, larger and more well-equipped U.N. mission take over Darfur peacekeeping duties from the African Union, whose mandate expires Sept. 30.

But the resolution was unlikely to take effect without the consent of the Sudanese government, something nations including the United States have worked ¡ª without success ¡ª to acquire. Al-Bashir has said that a switch in command would violate the country's sovereignty and has warned that his army would fight any U.N. forces sent to Darfur.

On Friday, President Bush said it could be time to send international peacekeepers into Darfur over the objections of the government in Khartoum.

"What you'll hear is, 'Well the government of Sudan must invite the United Nations in for us to act,'" Bush said. "Well, there are other alternatives, like passing a U.N. resolution saying we're coming in with a U.N. force in order to save lives."