A row has broken out in Sudan over a family planning programme in the capital, Khartoum.

The Sudanese health minister has been summoned before parliament to explain why he hasn't halted the programme; parliament had earlier voted to scrap it, arguing that it was both unnecessary and un-Islamic.

The project is supported by the ministry of health, and the United Nations population fund.

But a BBC correspondent in Khartoum says many MPs regard it as part of a plot by the United States to reduce the population of Sudan, and make the country easier to subdue.