France says Palestinian state will soon be recognized

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said a Palestinian state could soon be recognized even before its borders are drawn up.

"The issue before us at the moment is the building of a reality: France is training Palestinian police, businesses are being created in the West Bank... It follows that one can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international community, even before negotiating its borders," Kouchner told the French newspaper the Journal du Dimanche on Saturday.

The French official further pointed out that if the political process is not able to end the Israeli occupation by mid-2011, the development of Palestinian infrastructure and institutions will do that.

Kouchner made the remarks ahead of a visit to Paris by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas next week.

Earlier, acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that he could see an independent Palestinian state in 2011.

"If by mid-2011, the political process has not ended the (Israeli) occupation, I would bet that the developed state of Palestinian infrastructure and institutions will be such that the pressure will force Israel to give up its occupation," Fayyad said in an interview published in the French media on Friday.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119047§ionid=351020202.