Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday told leaders at the Arab League meeting in Libya that if peace talks remain stalled, he may ask the US to recognize a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, Reuters reported.
Another option was to demand that the United Nations place the Palestinian territories under an international mandate, AFP reported.
RELATED:State Dept. welcomes Arab League backing for more timeAbbas threatens to step down if peace talks failArab League agrees to give US one month to revive talksA Palestinian official quoted Abbas as saying, "What is the PA needed for if all these alternatives fail?" Ma'an reported on Saturday.
Earlier Friday, senior Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdaineh said that an Arab
League follow-up meeting would study unspecified "alternatives and ideas
that were presented by the president [Abbas]." It is likely these were
the alternatives he spoke of.
Foreign ministers from the 22-member Arab League agreed to give the
United States another month to try to persuade Israel to renew the
moratorium on West Bank settlement construction and keep Mideast peace
talks from collapsing.
"We support the Palestinian president's position calling for a complete
halt of all settlement activities in order to resume negotiation," the
Arab League's deputy Ahmad Bin Helli said as he read a statement issued
after the ministerial meeting.
But the ministers also said they would resume meetings in a month to
study alternatives and decide on next steps, giving the United States
some breathing room.
