Khartoum, Sudan ? Sudan said Thursday it would permit the U.N. to lay the groundwork for possible deployment of a peacekeeping force in Darfur but cautioned that the world body’s role would be smaller than some Security Council members want.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said at a news conference that the acceptance of a U.N. team was an “important step” in cooperation between the world body and Sudan, which had previously barred the team from the troubled western region.

The U.N. Security Council in a resolution last week gave Khartoum one week to accept it as the U.N. prepared to take over peacekeeping in Darfur from an underequipped African Union mission that has failed to end a three-year conflict.

The assessment team of U.N. and AU officials will work out the logistics of the proposed deployment of peacekeepers. Brahimi said the team would also assess “a possible transition” of the existing African Union force into the U.N. force.