The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will not call an emergency meeting on the Middle East crisis despite a request by Iran's president, the bloc's chair Malaysia said today.

The group may instead hold an "executive committee meeting" as it is impossible to get all 57 members together at short notice, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told the official Bernama news agency.

"If it is possible - otherwise, we are in contact with one another to see how we should coordinate our efforts," it quoted Syed Hamid as saying, when asked whether an executive committee meeting would be held.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Syed Hamid said he spoke to OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu about the matter on Sunday but gave no further details, except for saying that it need not be held in Saudi Arabia, where the group is based.

No statement issued yet

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a fierce opponent of Israel's existence, on Saturday called for an emergency gathering of the pan-Islamic body.

The group has not yet issued a statement on the conflict between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah militia based in southern Lebanon.

Syed Hamid said the OIC needed to speak about the crisis with one voice.

"There must be a united position among the OIC countries," he was quoted as saying.

"It is not simply against Israel. It is just against things that are happening. It is consistent with the international laws and humanitarian laws."

Israel launched its offensive against Lebanon on July 12 after Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and its main regional ally Syria, seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly raid.