The South African government has a week to explain to judges why it defied a court order barring the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country.

Bashir flew out of South Africa on Monday, before the end of the African leaders summit, despite an earlier ruling blocking him from leaving.

The U.S. said Monday it was disappointed Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir was allowed to return home from a meeting in South Africa even though he faces an international arrest warrant. 

State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke stopped short short of using stronger language. He did not explicitly say that the United States regretted South Africa's failure to arrest Bashir, who faces charges of crimes against humanity.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Khartoum from Johannesburg Monday, after a South African court ordered him not to leave as it decided whether to arrest him over alleged war crimes.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur region, was returning from an African Union summit.

A South African judge on Sunday barred Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country after the International Criminal Court called for him to be arrested at a summit in Johannesburg.

Bashir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict, mostly travels to countries that have not joined the ICC, but South Africa is a signatory of the court's statutes.

Authorities in Sudan have lifted their ban on four newspapers nearly three weeks after their licenses were suspended, the head of the journalists' union said Friday, apparently over a story about child abuse.

The licenses of the al-Intibaha, al-Khartoum, al-Jarida and Akhir Lahza dailies were suspended on May 25 by the National Intelligence and Security Service."

U.N. peacekeepers routinely trade sex for money, jewelry, cellphones and other items in countries where they are deployed in clear violation of U.N. rules, according to a draft U.N. report.

A third of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. personnel involve a minor under 18, according to the report by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) obtained by AFP on Thursday.

Sudanese security agents prevented seven senior opposition figures from traveling to a European parliament meeting in France and confiscated their passports on Monday, one of the politicians affected said.

The group had been invited to attend the meeting in Strasbourg but were stopped at Khartoum airport early on Monday as they tried to board a flight to Istanbul.

Two Russians kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur in January have been freed by their captors, a spokesman for Russia's embassy in Khartoum said Saturday.

The men, Sergei Cherepanov and Mikhail Antyufeev, arrived at Khartoum airport from Zalingei on Saturday afternoon, an AFP correspondent said.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir formed a new government late Saturday, state media reported, more than a month after he swept elections boycotted by the mainstream opposition and marred by poor turnout.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, dissolved his last cabinet when he was sworn in for a new five-year term last Tuesday.

Two Russians kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur in January have been freed by their captors, a spokesman for Russia's embassy in Khartoum said on Saturday.

The two men were abducted by an unidentified group near the town of Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur state, on January 29.