CAIRO, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The Arab League is seeking to convene an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the Darfur crisis and U.N. threats to impose sanctions on Sudan.
The spokesman of Arab League secretary Hussam Zaki said Monday the 22-nation Arab organization is trying to convene the meeting in Cairo early next week.
He said several Arab governments agreed to attend the meeting which was initially requested by Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail to discuss means of dealing with the U.N. Security Council resolution which threatens Khartoum with sanctions if it fails to settle the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, a vast area in western Sudan.
The regular Arab League foreign ministers' meeting is due to convene in Cairo in mid September.
The resolution gave Sudan 30 days to stop the violence in Darfur. It also called on Sudan to make good on promises it made July 3 to rein in the Arab Janjaweed who have been raiding non-Arab residents in Darfur. Some 50,000 people have been killed and one million have fled their homes in what some agencies have called genocide.
