KHARTOUM, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - Arab League chief Amr Mussa on Monday backed an African initiative to urge the UN Security Council to stall possible legal action against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.

'I personally do. Yes, the Arab League also believes that is important,' Mussa told reporters following two meetings with Beshir in less than 24 hours when he was asked about the call from the African Union.

On Monday, the AU's Peace and Security Council met at its Ethiopian headquarters and asked the Security Council to defer the process initiated by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last week.

The UN Security Council can pass a resolution to defer for a period of 12 months, renewable, any investigation or prosecution by the ICC.

Mussa held a series of top-level talks in Khartoum on Sunday and Monday about a plan, the details of which he has declined to reveal, that is widely expected to try to stall possible war crimes charges against Beshir.

'The question of holding an international conference or a regional conference for that matter is a possibility. The time for either one will come at a certain stage in the future,' Mussa said.

'But we are now involved in or engaged in a situation where a major crisis threatens to derail all peace processes in Sudan, which is a matter that we want to avoid,' the secretary general added.