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By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set ambitious goals on Tuesday for a tour he will make next week of Sudan, Chad and Libya, saying he aimed to lay the foundations of lasting peace in violence-racked Darfur.

But Ban told reporters a massive peace mission due to go to Darfur would come to nothing without cooperation from Sudan's government and he would press it for its full support.

His six-day trip follows last month's Security Council resolution dispatching 26,000 U.N. and African Union peacekeepers to the western Sudanese region in a bid to end more than four years of killing, raping and looting.

An estimated 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in Darfur since rebels launched an uprising in 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting the region. The violence has involved government forces, pro-government Arab militia and rebel groups.

"I want to create the foundations of a lasting peace and security," Ban told a news conference about his tour. "My goal is to lock in the progress we have made so far. To build on it so that this terrible trauma may one day cease."

Deploring as "simply unacceptable" a recent surge in violence in Darfur that he said had cost hundreds of lives, Ban said he would press Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir to fully support the peacekeeping mission.

"I appeal to the government of Sudan and to all parties to refrain from military action," said Ban, who diplomats say has made Darfur his top international priority during his eight months in office.

He also pledged to raise with Bashir recent moves by the Khartoum government to expel European Union and Canadian envoys as well as the local head of the U.S.-based CARE aid group.

The so-called hybrid peace mission, supposed to be in place early next year and one of the largest and most complex the United Nations has ever taken on, "cannot succeed without the cooperation of the government of Sudan," Ban said.

But he said he favored no recourse at present to sanctions against Sudan, which the United States and Britain say should be held in reserve. "I do not think at this time we should talk about sanctions against Sudan," he said.

THREE-POINT PLAN

Describing what he called a three-point plan to tackle Darfur -- peacekeeping, political talks and aid -- Ban said his trip would seek to "push the pace" on peace negotiations, which some rebel groups have so far stayed away from.

The U.N. chief said he aimed to issue by the end of the summer invitations to an already planned full peace conference between the government and the rebels that he hoped would take place in October. No venue has yet been announced.

Ban said it was time to start thinking now about promoting the economic development he said was the only real solution to Darfur's troubles. He highlighted the issue of water, following evidence there may be a vast underground lake in the region.

Ban said he hoped to announce before leaving for Africa on the weekend a new special representative for Sudan to replace Dutchman Jan Pronk, who ended his assignment last year. He declined comment on reports it may be Frenchman Jean Arnaud.

In Chad, where some 400,000 Sudanese and Chadian refugees are living in 12 U.N.-run camps as a result of the Darfur conflict, Ban will discuss with President Idriss Deby the planned deployment of a U.N.-backed EU peace force.

The Security Council gave preliminary approval to the force in a statement on Monday.

Ban also paid tribute to the contribution to Darfur peace efforts by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whom he expects to meet during the third leg of his tour. Libya has hosted talks among Darfur's fractious rebel groups, which currently number about a dozen.

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