The UN Security Council has called for faster preparations for the African Union to hand over its peacekeeping mission in Sudan's western Darfur region to the United Nations. The 15-member body unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday that also decided to extend for at least six months the mandate of the UN mission in south Sudan (UNMIS). The text directed Kofi Annan, the UN chief, working with the AU and in consultations with the council "to expedite the necessary preparatory planning for transition" from the AU force known as AMIS to a UN operation. This would include options for how UNMIS can provide transitional assistance - such as in logistics, mobility and communications.Adam Ereli, US State Department deputy spokesman, said in Washington: "The unacceptable violence in western Darfur and on the Chad border has influenced the discussions in New York about the renewal of the UNMIS mandate in a way that we are looking to help facilitate the transition to a rehatted UN force by putting in language and procedures to strengthen that now and not have to wait for six months."