UNITED NATIONS, April 16 (Reuters) - Sudan officially told the United Nations on Monday it would accept U.N. attack helicopters as part of a support package for an African Union force struggling to maintain peace in Darfur province.

The United Nations wants to deploy helicopters in Darfur as part of the second phase of a three-phase plan that would ultimately involve some 20,000 U.N. troops and police, but Sudan had been balking at the helicopters.

But in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem said: "I am pleased, upon instructions from my government, to convey to Your Excellency Sudan's approval of the helicopter component."

"It is the sincere hope of Sudan that implementation of the heavy support package would proceed expeditiously," he said, referring to phase two of the plan.

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