Washington 'appreciates' Arab League approving one more month for talks

The administration welcomed the Arab League's backing of the continuation of Mideast peace talks, giving the U.S. one month to try to convince Israel to renew its moratorium on West Bank settlement construction.

The foreign ministers of the 22 nations in the League met in Libya, where they discussed the negotiations that were in danger of falling apart soon after they began.

The League backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's decision to back out of talks.

"We support the Palestinian president's position calling for a complete halt of all settlement activities in order to resume negotiation," said the League's statement.

Members said they would come back to the table in one month to discuss alternative ways forward if the U.S. had not convinced Israel on settlements by that point.

"We appreciate the Arab League's statement of support for our efforts to create conditions that will allow direct talks to move forward," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We will continue to work with the parties, and all our international partners, to advance negotiations toward a two-state solution and encourage the parties to take constructive actions toward that end."

Abbas told the Arab League on Friday that he might ask the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders if talks remain stalled.

Another route Abbas may seek might be to ask the United Nations to put the Palestinian territories under international mandate, Agence France-Presse reported.

Abbas called into question the need for “the Palestinian Authority's continued existence if the efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state fail.”