Nairobi/Khartoum - United Nations and African Union peacekeepers are to remain in a rebel-held Darfur town despite an impending attack from Sudanese government troops, the UN mission peacekeeping mission said.

The Sudanese government on Sunday asked peacekeepers from the joint UN-AU mission (UNAMID) in Darfur to quit the town of Muhajiriya.

Sudan wants to take Muhajiriya from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which seized the town last month.

However, UNAMID on late Monday evening said that it had opened discussions with the government to allow the peacekeepers to stay and protect the civilian population.

Bombing and fighting near the town has led to over one thousand civilians taking refuge near the UNAMID camp.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at an AU summit in Addis Ababa, called on both sides to stop the fighting.

Tension is mounting in Darfur due to an impending decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on whether bring war crimes' charges against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Al-Bashir is facing possible charges of genocide and othere war crimes relating to Darfur.

Sudan has said it does not recognize the court and African leaders have closed ranks around al-Bashir. The AU on Monday released a statement calling on the ICC to defer charges.

The UN says up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by almost six years of conflic in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribesmen took up arms against what they call decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in Khartoum. (dpa)