Islamic OIC head to travel to Sudan for talks on Darfur

Oct 15, 2006 (CAIRO) — The head of the Islamic world’s largest organization of countries is set to meet with Sudan’s president this week to discuss finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the wartorn Darfur region, the group said Sunday.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu will visit the Sudanese capital Khartoum and meet with President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the OIC.

“The visit comes to express the organization’s solidarity with the Sudanese republic and to take part in the efforts aimed at finding a peaceful solution for Darfur crisis,” the statement said.

The 57-member group of Muslim nations said the visit will seek ways to provide security and stability in Darfur and guarantee Sudan’s sovereignty and independence.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in Darfur since 2003 when rebel groups rose up against the Khartoum government.

The U.N. wants to send peacekeepers to Darfur to replace the understaffed and ill-equipped African Union force currently deployed in the region. But al-Bashir has repeatedly rejected allowing U.N. peacekeepers in the region, saying it would erode the country’s sovereignty.

(AP)