Faisal, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saturday said the upcoming referendum on Sudan's secession must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner. “It is not justified that the Arab League sits on the fence about what happens in Sudan, especially as we are going to have an imminent Arab-African meeting, which requires to address this situation within the framework of Arab-African solidarity,” Prince Saud told an emergency meeting of the Arab League. Opposing the division of Sudan, he said it would not serve the interests of any party. “In our view neither the interest of Sudan nor those of the rival parties can be achieved by the dangerous move of division,” he pointed out. He stressed the need to review ways necessary to develop the system of the joint Arab action, including the institution of the Arab League, and to look into the suggestion put forward by the secretary general of the Arab League during the regular Arab Summit held in March on the establishment of a league for Arab neighborhood on the grounds that this matter involves a joint Arab and regional interest. Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti, meanwhile, assured the UN Security Council that his government is committed to holding a referendum on the independence of the south. “We are fully committed to holding the referendum on time,” Karti told the visiting members of the Council. “We want it on time, but it must be arranged properly ... We do not want any interference in the referendum, this is the only condition.” The Arab League meeting also discussed the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sought Arab League's backing for possible fallback options in case the troubled peace talks with Israel collapse, including urging the Obama administration to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, an Abbas aide said. The Arab League has given the US another month to try to salvage the negotiations, but has also begun to consider fallback options in case the talks fail. The US-backed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which began last month at the White House, have hit an impasse over Israel's refusal to extend a 10-month-old slowdown on settlement construction that expired in late September. Abbas has said he will not resume talks without such an extension, and won Arab League backing for his position. Israel has refused to extend the moratorium, though it is considering compromises. On Saturday, Abbas asked Arab leaders to consider alternatives to the negotiations, said Saeb Erekat, a top aide to the Palestinian president. He said Abbas asked Arab leaders “to press the American administration to recognize an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967.”
