United Nations: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has called for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to take stock of the US-led attack on Iraq and take the "necessary measures within the framework of its obligations in preserving international peace and security".

Sharply criticising the attack, OIC secretary general Dr Abde Louahed Belkeziz demanded an immediate end to hostilities and the return to the search for a peaceful solution within the framework of the Council.

The international weapons inspectors, he said, should be allowed to complete their task.

War, he said, is not the ideal means of resolving disputes and it only sheds innocent blood and results in devastation.

The American attack would only "aggravate the ordeal and suffering of the Iraqi people, exacerbate instability and deepen the phenomenon of extremism, intolerance and international terrorism", he said.

PTI