The African Union has asked to start talks with NATO for logistical support in its mission in Sudan's war-torn western Darfur region, an official at the military alliance said yesterday. The request was made in a letter sent to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer by AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.After receiving the message at NATO's headquarters yesterday morning, de Hoop Scheffer quickly informed the permanent representatives of NATO's members who then "agreed that exploratory talks should begin with the AU", Appathurai said. The request comes ahead of a scheduled meeting today of senior AU diplomats in Addis Ababa to mull a significant expansion of the pan-African body's operation in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur. The AU's Peace and Security Council will meet today to discuss the possible expansion of the current mission, perhaps by more than 100 percent, an official at the pan-African body's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital said. Today's meeting has been called "to discuss reinforcing the African Union mission to Sudan," Said Djinnit told AFP, adding that the existing mission might be more than doubled.