OIC chief calls for aid for Lebanon, Palestinians

The head of the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference on Tuesday called for large-scale aid to help Lebanon and the Palestinians. OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu made the call in Istanbul at the start of a meeting of Muslim countries' humanitarian aid organizations. "There is a need for a large-scale humanitarian aid campaign which would help respond to our Lebanese and Palestinian brothers' unbearable anguish and pain," Ihsanoglu said. The OIC, the world's largest Muslim political grouping, will hold an emergency meeting in Malaysia later this week to discuss measures to end the war in Lebanon.