SOFIA, June 17: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Monday he prepared an accord with the Palestinians on the creation within eight weeks of a Palestinian state with provisional borders.

“We reached an understanding which wasn’t approved by the (Israeli) government and neither was it rejected,” Peres said at a press conference during a visit to Bulgaria.

He said he made the deal last week with Palestinian representatives, including parliamentary speaker Ahmed Qorei.

However, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat denied the existence of the deal saying there had been no negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli officials.

“These remarks have no basis, and there are no contacts or political meetings between us and the Israeli side,” Erakat told AFP.

Peres said he “expected the Palestinian state to start in a matter of eight weeks, without having yet final borders”.

But, using the past tense to say he had reached the deal, he refused to clarify if the agreement was still valid.

“I think this idea has now been spread in the US, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. A provisional state will be provisional on the borders, and not the state,” the foreign minister said.

Washington confirmed last Thursday that it was weighing the possibility of moving the Middle East peace process forward through a provisional Palestinian state. US President George W. Bush is expected to unveil as early as Monday his long-awaited “vision” for Middle East peace, after completing consultations with regional leaders.

Peres said he did not expect from Bush “a very detailed declaration” but added that it would “clearly include the vision (of) two states for the two peoples, a Palestinian State (and) an Israeli state.”—AFP