A victim of the Sudan crisis

The prime minister has indicated that he is keeping an open mind on whether military intervention might be needed in Sudan.

As the crisis continues, Tony Blair said that he was "ruling nothing out".

But the prime minister insisted that it was important to work closely with other African countries to tackle the crisis.

It was reported on Thursday that officials have been asked to draw up plans for British troops o be deployed to the region.

Estimates suggest that up to one million refugees have been caught up in the crisis.

Questioned on the government's response to the problem, Blair told reporters that he was monitoring the situation.

"We rule nothing out but we are not at that stage yet," he said.

"We have got to move in concert with people but the critical thing is to try at least at this stage to make the current strategy work."

Blair also accepted there was a moral obligation to tackle the crisis.

"We have a moral responsibility to deal with this and to deal with it by any means that we can," he said.

"But I think we need to work very carefully with the Africa Union because, after all, they are the regional political body.

"There is no point doing things unless you have very clear support in the region.

"We just have to wait and see how it develops. We have the strategy at the moment. This is, as I say, something we are absolutely focused upon.

"What is happening there at the moment is unacceptable, and of course we have a moral responsibility to do what we can."

Charles Kennedy, who raised the issue of Sudan in the Commons on Wednesday, backed the prime minister's comments.

"Tony Blair is right to say we have a moral responsibility to deal with the unfolding crisis in Sudan," said the Liberal Democrat leader.

"He needs to galvanise the international community and should use his weight as prime minister on the UN security council to achieve swift action."