CAIRO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League here Sunday called on the UN Security Council to postpone its meeting on Darfur, slated for next week in New York, and give Sudan more time to improve situation in the country's western region.

    AL Secretary General Amr Moussa and eight Arab foreign ministers made the call in a joint statement, after their special meeting on Sudan, reported Egypt's official MENA news agency.

    The statement reiterated support for the Khartoum Arab Summit resolution, which stipulated that sending any international force to Darfur required the approval of the Sudanese government in advance.

    The UN Security Council should give the Sudanese government more time to carry out its plan to improve the situation in Darfur and to maintain security in the region, it said.

    The Sudanese government has repeatedly said that it opposed the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur to replace the AU troops. It also planned to send 10,500 more government forces to Darfur.

    While hailing the role of the African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Darfur, the statement also called on Arab countries to honor their obligations on funding the AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur for six months starting from Oct. 1.

    The United States and Britain introduced a draft UN Security Council resolution on Aug. 17 that would authorize the deployment of 17,000 UN peacekeepers in Darfur, replacing the 7,000-strong AU force.

    Many people have reportedly been killed in the Darfur region since 2003, when ethnic tribes revolted against the government. Enditem