Cairo  - Officials gathered at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo on Wednesday said they feared an international arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could harm efforts to strike a peace deal in Darfur.

"We support the conduct of justice," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said after an emergency meeting of the 22-member body to discuss the court's decision. "But we fear for the stability of Darfur."

On Wednesday afternoon, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague issued an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president, its first against an acting head of state, on charges that he was complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The Arab League resolved to send an Arab and Sudanese ministerial delegation to the Security Council member countries to present the Arab stance on the warrant and "its consequences for peace and stability in Sudan."

The Egyptian foreign ministry said it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC's decision and called on the UN Security Council to "assume its responsibility towards maintaining peace and security in Sudan."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on the Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to delay the indictment.

"It is not right to arrest a President of an Arab or non-Arab country during his rule and the Arab foreign ministers has decided not to approve the decision and condemning it," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told reporters as he left Cairo.

According to UN estimates, around 35,000 people have been killed in Darfur since 2003 and a further 300,000 have died from hunger and disease and some 2.7 million were displaced. (dpa)