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The Arab League has endorsed direct Palestinian peace talks with the Israelis, but has left the timing to the Palestinians, officials said.

The US has been pushing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to restart the direct talks, suspended since 2008.

Mr Abbas has demanded a settlement freeze and a return to 1967 borders as a precondition of direct talks.

Correspondents say the move by the Arab League makes it likely the talks will resume in the coming months.

The Palestinian president is now expected to return to Ramallah and seek endorsement for the direct talks from a meeting of Palestinian factions, says the ����ý's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly stated he wants direct talks to start as soon as possible.

In response to the Arab League decision, his office released a statement saying he was "ready to start, already in the next few days, direct and frank talks with the Palestinian Authority".

Thorny issues

The Arab League agreed in principle to direct talks with Israel provided the Palestinians saw fit, said Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who chaired a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo.

"Of course, there is agreement, but agreement over the principles of what will be discussed and the manner of the direct negotiations," he said.

But the timing of the direct talks was "a matter for the Palestinian side to decide", he said.

Mr Netanyahu has said he is ready to discuss all the core issues of the decades-old conflict, and has accused the Palestinians of avoiding direct talks.

Mr Abbas wants Israel to agree to a complete halt in settlement construction and to accept a Palestinian state in territories seized in the 1967 Middle East war - the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

"When I receive written assurances [about] accepting the 1967 border and halting the settlement [building], I will go immediately to the direct talks," Mr Abbas was quoted as saying by Egypt's state-owned news agency before the meeting.

Mr Netanyahu has accepted the idea of Palestinian statehood with conditions, but has ruled out giving up control of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a future state.

Israel also acceded to US pressure to temporarily limit settlement building in the West Bank, but its 10-month moratorium expires in September.

Mr Abbas suspended negotiations after Israel carried out an offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December 2008 in response, Israel said, to Palestinian rocket fire.