Updated on
Summary
Arab League leaders have said that they support the Palestinians' decision to stop direct talks with Israel unless the Israelis agree to halt all settlement construction in the West Bank.The Arab League ministers, who held preliminary talks on Friday in Libya, also said in a statement after the meeting that they will give the US another month to find a way to break the impasse.The decision represents a compromise as US struggles to prevent a total collapse of direct negotiations between the two sides that began last month.Some Arab countries have proposed that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, return to indirect negotiations to avoid a total breakdown of Middle East peace.Sources told that there are divisions in the Arab League as to how to proceed. They also told that Libya and Syria do not support the resumption of peace talks while Israelis continue to build settlements, but so-called moderate countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are interested in exploring different venues.Meanwhile, Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, said the Israeli stance is not helping efforts to return to the negotiating table.
