KHARTOUM, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - A new report has identified 140 aircraft as suitable to aid struggling UN peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, urging India, Ukraine and NATO countries in particular to donate helicopters without delay.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died in Sudan's western region of Darfur during five years of war, but not a single military transport or tactical helicopter has been deployed to patrol an area the size of France.

Only a third of the estimated 26,000 troops have deployed. The mission says it needs 18 helicopters to protect civilians adequately. Initial offers of aircraft from countries including Ethiopia and Russia have come to nothing.

A report compiled by Thomas Withington, a defence analyst who specialises in military aviation and air power issues, listed India, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Spain in order as best able to provide the aircraft.

'Between them, these six countries could provide an estimated fleet of over 70 helicopters, four times the number required by UNAMID (the African Union - United Nations mission in Darfur),' said the report, published on Thursday.

'NATO and the leading UN aircraft contributing nations might have circa 140 aircraft which could be available to the UN for rolling deployments to peacekeeping operations,' it added.

'Many of these helicopters are gathering dust in hangars or flying in air shows when they could be saving lives in Darfur,' said the report entitled 'Grounded: the International Community's Betrayal of UNAMID.'

'Countries with the ability to provide these helicopters must do so immediately, and Security Council members -- especially the five permanent members -- must engage in concerted diplomacy to make sure this happens.'

The report gives technical details about military and government aircraft in each country and lists which ones are deployed elsewhere.

It uses the benchmark that for each helicopter deployed abroad, as a basic 'rule of thumb' three helicopters are required at home to support a single helicopter in theatre.

Suitable aircraft in surplus, the report argues, could go to Darfur.

The report was endorsed by 36 rights and aid groups, including Aegis Trust; which is dedicated to eliminating genocide, the Save Darfur coalition of more than 180 faith-based organisations; and the United Nations Association.

The foreword was signed by South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu, former UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, former US president Jimmy Carter and the wife of Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, who campaign for a rapid UNAMID deployment.

'The time for action is now; the time of excuses and explanations is long past,' they wrote.

Citing the example of an ambush and shootout on July 8 in North Darfur where seven peacekeepers were killed, the report said lack of helicopters prevented UNAMID from mounting a rescue or reinforcement operation.

But some analysts question whether UNAMID, even properly staffed and equipped, can provide security in a landscape of splintering rebel groups, flip-flopping militias, roaming bandits and complex tribal conflict.

Others argue that criticising the international community for not providing staff and equipment masks the real problem of a Sudan government that blocks troop donations from certain countries and holds up equipment in Port Sudan.

Khartoum accuses the West of exaggerating the conflict in Darfur and says 10,000 have been killed since February 2003.

At that time, African ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.

'UNAMID is a key building block in helping to stabilise the situation and move to a context where an authentic peace process is viable,' said the report.

'If UNAMID is allowed to fail, it will affect all of the international community's efforts and set back any prospect of peace for many years to come.'