Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (right), the secretary-general of the OIC, with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov (file photo) (RFE/RL)
BAKU, July 18, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The current presidency of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Azerbaijan, says it is drafting a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking for help to end the escalating violence between Israel and Hizballah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Tahir Tagizade, a spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told RFE/RL that the OIC believes "violence cannot help solve any problem."
Tagizade said the head of the OIC, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, will call on the UN to directly intervene in the conflict.
In a statement issued on July 16, the 57-nation OIC called for an immediate end to the violence and condemned what it termed "Israeli aggression against Lebanon."