Cairo - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal chaired the opening of the Arab League Council in Cairo Monday evening amid signs the 22-state body was becoming impatient with the continued political impasse between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.

The meeting, which continues on Tuesday, is expected to discuss the situation in the Palestinian Territories as well ongoing violence in Darfur.

"It's about time that the Arab countries take a solid and decisive stance against those who shed Palestinian blood and deepen the Palestinian division," Faisal said.

"The Palestinians have to take full responsibility. They have inflicted damage upon the Palestinian cause through their internal struggle," he said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit repeated an earlier suggestion that an Arab military force should be used to keep peace in the Gaza Strip.

Militant Islamist group Hamas seized power in Gaza in a June 2007 coup, leading to political paralysis within the Palestinian community.

Hamas and other militant Palestinian Islamist groups have said that they strongly oppose the idea of an Arab force being inserted into the territory. (dpa)