Carter bristles after being halted by Sudan guards

KABKABIYA, Sudan - Former President Jimmy Carter confronted Sudanese security services on a visit to Darfur yesterday, shouting, "You don't have the power to stop me!" at some who blocked him from meeting refugees of the conflict.

Carter, 83, wanted to visit a refugee camp in South Darfur, but the U.N. mission in Sudan deemed that too dangerous.

Instead, he agreed to fly to the World Food Program compound in the North Darfur town of Kabkabiya, where he was supposed to meet with refugees, many of whom were chased from their homes by militias and government forces.

But none of the refugees showed up, and Carter decided to walk into the town, a stronghold of the pro-government Janjaweed militia.

He made it to a school where he met with one tribal representative and was preparing to go farther into town when Sudanese security officers stopped him.

"You can't go. It's not on the program!" the local security chief, who identified himself only as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders."

"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a crowd began to gather. "You don't have the power to stop me."

However, U.N. officials told Carter's entourage that the Sudanese state police could bar his way. Carter's traveling companions, billionaire businessman Richard Branson and Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, tried to ease his frustration, and his Secret Service detail urged him to get into a car and leave.

"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Carter later played down the encounter, saying the security chief was only doing his job.

The visit by "The Elders," which is headed by Carter and Desmond Tutu, is largely a symbolic move by a host of respected figures to push all sides to make peace.