KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) – A United Nations peacekeeper who was among a small group of reinforcements sent to Darfur was shot to death at his residence – the U.N.’s first casualty since its long-negotiated arrival in the troubled region, officials said Saturday.

Gunmen shot the Egyptian lieutenant colonel in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, and looted his home late Friday, the African Union and U.N. said.

Sudan’s hardline President Omar al-Bashir reiterated his opposition Saturday to a 22,000-strong joint U.N.-AU force for Darfur. Al-Bashir agreed in November to a three-phase U.N. plan to strengthen the overstretched, 7,000-strong AU force in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million chased from their homes in four years of fighting.

After five months of stalling, the Sudanese president gave the go-ahead in April for the second phase – a “heavy support package” with 3,000 U.N. troops, police and civilian personnel along with six attack helicopters and other equipment. But he has backed off the third phase – the deployment of the 22,000-strong joint U.N.-AU force, saying he would only allow a larger African force with technical and logistical support from the United Nations.

On Thursday, the U.N. and AU agreed on a highly mobile, robust joint force of at least 23,000 soldiers and police allowed to launch pre-emptive attacks to stop violence in the third phase. The Security Council then dropped an appeal Friday urging Sudan to quickly allow the force into Darfur, approving a watered-down statement that took the focus off the Sudanese government.

Sudan’s U.N. ambassador had said his government would study the document.

At a news conference in Khartoum on Saturday, however, al-Bashir reiterated his objection to the troop deployment in the third phase.

Instead, he lauded the AU for its “positive role in resolving African conflicts and rejecting re-colonization of any African country,” adding that the “Darfur crisis is now on its way for a solution.”

In Cairo, meanwhile, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry deplored the Egyptian officer’s death and condemned in a statement the “sinful aggression” in which he became the “casualty of an attack by armed elements.” The U.N. mission in Sudan confirmed the officer’s death.

The gunmen who killed him were thought to be burglars, but an official close to the investigation said authorities would not exclude other motives. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The AU has faced increased hostility from warring factions in Darfur, and has lost 19 of its own peacekeepers since it first deployed in June 2004. “Not a month goes by without a new killing, it’s very difficult,” AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said.

The U.N. began deploying some 180 staff to Darfur in December as part of the first phase to bolster the AU force. The second phase envisions the 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers moving into Darfur this year, but the AU and U.N. both acknowledge that even the first batch of 180 reinforcements has not yet all arrived.

Meanwhile, the state Omdurman Radio reported that in a phone call to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, al-Bashir invited the secretary-general to visit Sudan and see the situation on the ground, “instead of relying on mistaken reports.”