African Union Opens Meeting In Ethiopia

The humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan will be the main focus of the African Union meeting opening in Ethiopia on Monday. Ban Ki-Moon, the new United Nations secretary general, is in attendance and will be meeting with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in an attempt to obtain his consent to allow U.N. peacekeepers into the area. Al-Bashir is himself at the center of controversy. Sudan is next in rotation to head the African Union, but many members are calling it "outrageous" to allow Al-Bashir to assume the chairmanship.