'Sudan to approve Darfur peacekeepers'

"No soldier should go to Sudan without the permission of the Sudanese government because it's not about making war with the Sudanese people but helping them," AU head Alpha Oumar Konare said on Monday.

Konare's comments came as al-Bashir, in Sudan, lashed out at the US, saying Washington's plans to create a "new Middle East" were behind an international push to replace AU peacekeepers with UN forces in Darfur. - ndtv