Cairo - The Arab League said Monday that Arab foreign ministers would hold an emergency meeting to discuss the consequences of a request made by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the court to issue an international arrest warrant for the Sudanese president.

After consultations held by the league's Secretary-General Amr Mussa with Arab foreign ministers, it was decided that an emergency meeting would held on Saturday, a league official, Hesham Yussif, said.

The ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, made the request for the arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir and presented new evidence on war crimes in Western Sudan's Darfur region.

Sudan requested the emergency meeting, which has so far received the backing of five Arab countries, Yussif said. (dpa)