'Elder' Carter Not Taking Any Guff in Darfur

Soft-spoken Jimmy Carter threw down today with Sudanese security officials who told him he couldn't meet fearful refugees, hollering "We're going to anyway!" and threatening to tell their president on them. The ex-president is touring Darfur, with a group of fellow diplomatic rock stars called "the Elders," to encourage pending peace talks and promote fair elections next year.

After his outburst, 83-year-old Carter agreed to a compromise with his security detail, which was already touchy about an earlier security breach by Carter, in which he would meet with refugees in another location. Ethnic Sudanese intimidated by government officials had been slipping notes to members of Carter's party, too afraid to speak out. (More Darfur stories.)