Africa's leaders have agreed not to co-operate with the International Criminal Court's attempt to extradite Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to face charges of war crimes in Darfur. The decision of the African Union summit in Libya means al-Bashir can travel across Africa without fear of arrest. The AU's decision comes after intense debate among the continent's leaders. President Jacob Zuma has also been attending the summit.

"(The African Union) decides that in view of the fact that a request of the African Union (to defer al Bashir's indictment) has never been acted upon, the AU member states shall not cooperate persuant to the provisions of Article 98 of the Rome Statute of the ICC relating to immunities for the arrest and surrender of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir to the ICC," a text of the resolution obtained by Reuters said. Two delegates told Reuters that the resolution, adopted by AU foreign ministers on Thursday, had been adopted by the AU heads of state summit yesterday.

Meanwhile Gadhaffi's call that the proposed United States of Africa be granted sweeping powers over defence, trade and foreign relations has also been rejected as ill-conceived.  Many countries have objected to this proposal, arguing that if implemented the move risks eroding the sovereignty of African States.  However the African Union Commission's chairperson, Jean Ping, has strongly rejected such claims as alarmist, arguing that instead the new African authority would be more empowered to protect the sovereignty of smaller poor and vulnerable countries. -  Additional reporting Reuters