The African Union has been granted more power in the areas of defence and international trade. The decision follows an AU summit in Libya.

Representatives met with the current AU chief, Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi, until the early hours of the morning. Col Gaddafi wants the AU to operate much like the European Union but many countries reject this idea. Individual AU-member parliaments must still discuss whether they support an expansion of AU powers.

AU foreign ministers also decided to suspend cooperation with the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes. The AU has the final say in the issue and ministers believe an indictment of Mr Bashir would not help bring stability to Sudan.

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