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 KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudan gave African Union troops a one-week ultimatum Monday to accept a deal blocking a proposed U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur or else leave the war-torn region, a step that would likely worsen the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
The deadline escalates the Khartoum regime's standoff with the United Nations over Darfur to a crisis point, pitting Sudanese determination to resist possible war crimes investigations against a U.N. push to take on a new, tough peacekeeping mission.
Many observers believe Sudan has dug in against U.N. deployment in the vast western region because it fears the force will hunt down officials and government allies suspected of war crimes for atrocities committed by nomadic Arab tribes on Darfur's ethnic African communities.
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