Leaders of the world's biggest Islamic body, the 57-nation Organisation of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) , begin to arrive in Dakar ahead of a two-day
summit. Chadian president Idriss Deby also arrives in the capital where he and
his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan al-Bashir are expected to sign a peace
agreement to help end the conflict in Darfur.

DAKAR, SENEGAL (MARCH 12, 2008) (RTS 1) -

Leaders of the world's biggest Islamic body, the 57-nation
Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) , began arriving in Dakar on
Wednesday (March 12) ahead of a two-day summit.
   Facing "Islamophobia" in the West, the OIC is seeking to
rebrand itself this week as a forum for settling conflicts peacefully and for
redistributing wealth to the world's poorest states. It  will seek to agree on
a modern charter that will give it a more active, influential role as the
voice of Islam in a globalised world.
   The leaders meet at a time when suspicion in the West about the Muslim
world remains high, still coloured by the September 11, 2001 attacks in the
United States carried out by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in the name of
militant Islam.
    The Senegalese leader is also hoping to host the signing in Dakar on
Wednesday (March 12) of the latest peace pact between two feuding OIC members,
Chad and Sudan, whose rivalry is entangled in the Darfur crisis.
    But, Sudanese president Omar al Bashir, cast doubt over the signing of
a peace agreement between Sudan and Chad.  A string of previous peace deals,
including one when the two leaders made a pilgrimage to Mecca and prayed
together, have collapse.
     Wade is urging the Islamic group to play a more decisive, active role
in solving conflicts affecting its members, whether in Sudan's Darfur or the
enduring conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
    Senegal, hosting its second OIC summit in 17 years, also wants the
Islamic world community - known as Ummah -- to harness its geographical reach
and immense resources so it can punch at its full weight in the world arena
and assist its poorest members.
    Wade wants the summit to agree to top up a special OIC fund - the
Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development - initially projected at $10 billion,
to finance anti-poverty projects mostly in Africa, but also in other parts of
the Islamic world.
    The OIC groups some of the planet's richest countries, such as oil
producers Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, with poor African nations like
Guinea Bissau, Niger and Burkina Faso who languish at the bottom of U.N.
development rankings.
    With funds provided by OIC heavyweights like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
Abu Dhabi, Senegal's picturesque but scruffy capital has built a network of
new highways linking the city centre to the airport and other points on the
Cap Vert peninsula.