France puts case for recognizing Palestinian state without borders

AMMAN: France suggested late on Sunday the international community might recognize 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 yesterday 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."