By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The top U.N. humanitarian official accused Sudan on Wednesday of deliberately hindering relief aid in Darfur, attacking villages and arming brutal militia to combat rebels and bandits.

Jan Egeland, the emergency relief coordinator, told the U.N. Security Council that international relief operations were threatened by government obstruction and members needed to talk to Sudanese officials immediately as well as put pressure on those sending arms to rebels.

"The next weeks may be make or break for our lifeline to more than 3 million people," Egeland said. "This period may well be the last opportunity for this Council, the Government of Sudan, the African Union, the rebels, and all of us to avert a humanitarian disaster of much larger proportions than even the one we so far have witnessed in Darfur."

Some 4 million people need emergency aid compared to 1 million two years ago. But relief convoys can only reach about 3 million people in their $1 billion aid effort, he said.

Egeland, who will be leaving his post shortly, just returned from Sudan and has been outspoken on atrocities in the vast arid Darfur region, marked by an escalation of fighting, 2 million people uprooted from their homes, killings, pillaging and rape.

The conflict began in early 2003 when rebels took up arms against alleged government neglect, prompting Khartoum to arm brutal militia. Rebels now have also pillaged villages.

'MELTDOWN'

Egeland said large parts of Darfur were seeing a "meltdown of law and order," with rebel groups getting new weapons from abroad and from across the Chad border and the government arming Arab militia, who attack non-Arab villages.

"The failure is one of the government not being willing to protect its own citizens rather than fueling the conflict, of rebels not wanting to join the cease-fire," Egeland said.

The proliferation of arms and banditry on roads has taken its toll on the ability to deliver aid.

Compounding the problem is "the wall of administrative obstacles that the Government has slowly but surely rebuilt both in Khartoum and in Darfur," Egeland said.

This consumed 70 percent of the time of many humanitarian mangers, with Khartoum and security forces paralyzing staff by taking steps such as curtailing visas and travel permits.

In turn Khartoum has sent troops to several places in the last month. The village of Sirba 10 days ago was under attack by government forces and Arab militia that resulted in women and children being killed and injured, Egeland said.

The United Nations, the African Union, which has fielded a 7,000-member force, and Sudan agreed in Addis Ababa last week on a beefed-up AU force. Diplomats said this could include financing by the United Nations for more African and Asian troops on the ground, with Western personnel manning air corridors, transport, communications and command centers.

Egeland told reporters later it was "very positive" to see that Islamic nations, which usually support Khartoum, and China, which reaps oil in Sudan, had backed an expanded force. But he said these countries should speak out forcefully.

The force is still far from being established. Egeland said that the African Union now lacked the flexibility and mobility to respond to urgent requests for help from places such as Sirba.

"But we all know that it may take months for these forces to be deployed," he said. "And the Darfurians cannot wait another day."

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