South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said, ''The search for justice should not jeopardise the other priorities in Sudan''.

Gunmen in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur shot and killed another United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur peacekeeper this week, as the UN Security Council voted to condemn the killing of seven Darfur peacekeepers a week ago as a possible war crime.

The latest attack left a Nigerian company commander dead in West Darfur while he was on patrol near a UN-AU peacekeeping camp, UN officials said.

Diplomats said Sudan, South Africa and China expressed concern that indicting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could further damage the peace process.

Some Western diplomats and UN officials feared an arrest warrant against Mr Bashir could unleash reprisals against the UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

But to many, that peace process already is withering, and the mission has virtually no peace to keep.

British Ambassador John Sawers said, ''The peace process has been stalled for the last few months.

''There's an urgent need for renewed effort on the peace process side. And UNAMID can only ever deliver on its mission properly once there is a peace to keep.''

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges on Monday against Mr Bashir. They related to a campaign of extermination which the UN says has claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes.

Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, based at The Hague, in the Netherlands, said survivors were preyed upon by government-backed janjaweed Arab militia and regular troops. It could take judges months to rule on whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said some African diplomats were discussing with China and Russia ways of persuading the 15-nation Security Council to block Mr Moreno-Ocampo's work for a year.

The council had asked the court in 2005 to investigate the Darfur crisis.

Last week seven UN-AU peacekeepers were killed and at least another 19 wounded in Darfur during an ambush by about 200 gunmen on horseback and in SUVs.

The Security Council strongly condemned the July 8 attack as ''premeditated, deliberate and intended to inflict casualties'', and said attacks on UN peacekeepers during armed conflicts ''can constitute war crimes''.

Fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination.

As well as less-than-adequate cooperation from the Sudanese Government, the United States and other governments have not provided the force with the needed attack and transport helicopters.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council in a report that he was ''deeply disappointed'' by the situation, but he still set the goal of doubling the number of peacekeeping troops to 80 per cent of its authorised strength by year's end.

As of June there were 11,359 personnel in Darfur two-thirds of them soldiers as part of the peacekeeping mission, which is authorised to have 26,000 troops, police, civilians and other personnel.

But this week about 130 ''nonessential'' civilians were withdrawn in the face of deteriorating security, according to UN peacekeeping officials. AP