Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who visits the United States this week amid a flurry of Middle East diplomacy, proposed the declaration of a Palestinian state before negotiations on its final borders.
The New York Times, which interviewed Mr Mubarak in Cairo, said the Egyptian leader would press President George W. Bush during his upcoming visit to support such a declaration early next year.
The aim, a senior Egyptian official added, would be to offer Palestinians hope, help reduce the level of violence and underpin the international consensus that a Palestinian state must be part of a Middle East peace settlement.
Mr Mubarak indicated that Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979, was growing impatient with Washington's reluctance to propose a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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"We are fed up with declaration of principles. ... We're going to discuss how can we manage to make a breakthrough.
"I think to declare a state just theoretically like this and then to sit and negotiate what would be the border, what about Jerusalem - I think it may work," he said.
Mr Bush told reporters he would wait to hear Mr Mubarak speak. "I look forward to talking to President Mubarak. ... I think it's ... wise for me to listen to what he has to say and not read it through the filter of a fine newspaper," he said.
Mr Mubarak also urged active mediation between Israelis and Palestinians, preferably by the United States, on the grounds that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat cannot make peace by themselves.
A senior Egyptian official, in Washington to prepare for Mubarak's visit, told reporters on Tuesday the United States must "muster its imagination and energy" and come up with detailed proposals requiring compromises by both sides.
The United States says the final settlement should include a Palestinian state alongside Israel but it has not taken a position on the borders or other details.
Mr Mubarak meets US officials in Washington on Thursday and then goes to the presidential retreat at Camp David on Friday and Saturday for talks with Mr Bush. Mr Sharon will meet Mr Bush in Washington on Monday.