The director-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has arrived for talks in Iran, which holds the group's rotating presidency, the state IRNA news agency said Saturday.
Ezeddin Eraqi, who arrived Friday, is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi as Iran has been pushing for a gathering of OIC foreign ministers to address the Middle East crisis.
Iran holds the presidency of the 56-nation group until December, when it hands over to Qatar. There was no word on how long Eraqi would stay in Tehran.
Arab leaders were beginning a two-day emergency summit in Cairo on Saturday aimed at making Israel pay a diplomatic price for its deadly crackdown on the Palestinians.
A ceasefire agreed in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh last week has failed to take hold and Israel has warned it will withdraw from the peace process if the violence is not over by the end of the summit.
Nine Palestinians were killed in a resurgence of clashes with Israel on Friday, bringing the death toll in three weeks of violence to 123, almost all of them Arab. More than 3,000 people have been wounded – TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
