The meeting will be held at the request of Saudi Arabia, the current president of the OIC summit, on Wednesday.

The OIC’s headquarters in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah will host the meeting.

OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha said the emergency meeting reflects the interest of member countries in the developments in Sudan and their keenness on its stability and security.

He reiterated his call for a permanent ceasefire in Sudan and need for dialogue to safeguard security, protect the people and resume the political process.

At least 528 people have been killed and 4,599 wounded since a long-simmering power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into conflict on April 15.

The United Nations believes the actual number of casualties to be far higher.

The rival military forces have accused each other of violating a fresh ceasefire as the deadly conflict rumbles on for a third week despite warnings of a slide towards civil war.

Both sides said a formal ceasefire agreement that was due to expire at midnight would be extended for a further 72 hours. The army said it hoped what it called the “rebels” would abide by the deal but it believed they had intended to keep up attacks. The parties have kept fighting through a series of ceasefires over the past week.

Source: english.aawsat.com