AMMAN,  (Reuters) – France suggested yesterday the  international community might recognise a Palestinian state  before its borders had been fixed, in order to break a stalemate  in Middle East peacemaking.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner floated the idea in a  newspaper interview, published hours before Palestinian  President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Paris for talks today  with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Kouchner told Journal du Dimanche: “One can imagine a  Palestinian state being rapidly declared and immediately  recognised by the international community, even before  negotiating its borders. I would be tempted by that.”

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, on a visit to Jordan,  said Kouchner’s proposal showed France’s willingness “to  accelerate the (peace) process, to take initiatives that will  kick off negotiations, which are taking too long to start”.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the  remarks, while an Israeli official, speaking on condition of  anonymity, described any such proposal as a “mirage”.

“We consider that the time has come for European Union  states to announce their recognition of the state of Palestine  on the ‘67 borders,” Erekat told Reuters, referring to the  borders of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as they stood on the eve  of the 1967 Middle East war.

Kouchner acknowledged, however, in his remarks that even  other European states would have reservations about such a  proposal.

An Israeli official told Reuters: “Prime Minister (Benjamin  Netanyahu) believes peace can only be achieved through direct  negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians when the  leaderships on both sides show courageous leadership.”

He added: “Anything else is a mirage because it won’t lead  to peace.”

The Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership said in November  it would launch a diplomatic push to seek U.N. Security Council  backing for the creation of a Palestinian state based on the  1967 borders.

It said the initiative, sharply criticised by Israel, would  not be a unilateral declaration of statehood but would aim to  secure international support for the eventual creation of a  state based on the 1967 borders.

Many observers, including Palestinians, dismissed the plan  as no more than a symbolic gesture, pointing out that it would  certainly run into a U.S. veto in any vote at the Security  Council.

Peace talks were halted more than a year ago over Israel’s  war with Gaza, and have not resumed. Abbas is demanding that  Israel first impose a complete freeze on building in the West  Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel announced in November a partial, 10-month freeze on  settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.