Rice met Tuesday at the White House with Natsios, Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer to discuss the special envoy's trip, a spokesman said.

Like her predecessor, Colin Powell, Rice has called the violence in Darfur genocide.

The UN has so far avoided using the term genocide for the Darfur violence, as it would have legal implications including possibly putting officials on trial before an international court.

The Bush administration, whose Republican party faces a tough congressional campaign ahead of November 7 elections, has also come under heavy pressure from its conservative Christian supporters to take action.

Former US officials and lawmakers have recently called on Washington to intervene militarily against Sudan.

John Prendergast, an expert at the non-governmental International Crisis Group, recently suggested that France and the United States impose a no-fly zone over Darfur and that the UN prepare "non consensual deployment" in case Khartoum persists in its refusal to accept UN peacekeepers.

Prendergast's suggestions irritated the anonymous senior US official.

"Now, I don't know who you are going to find around the world to shoot the way into Sudan. I don't know, maybe the International Crisis group or John Prendergast has an idea," the official said.

"That is the great thing about being in a think tank: You can suggest these ideas and criticize without actually having to implement the solution," he said.

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