CAIRO - The Cairo-based Arab League held an extraordinary meeting at the ministerial level on Thursday, with its focus on the Syrian crisis and relations between Sudan and South Sudan.

Chaired by Kuwait's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Hamed al-Sabah, the meeting discussed recent conflicts between Sudan and South Sudan, the latest situation in Syria and the visit of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a disputed island which both Iran and the United Arab Emirates claim as their own territory.

The meeting urged Sudan and South Sudan to resolve their conflict peacefully via negotiations. It also proposed to set up a fact-finding committee to estimate the human and economic loses of both sides.

The AL Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi expressed his sorrow over the ongoing violence in Syria, urging for maintaining the cease-fire.