CAIRO Ñ Arab allies of the United States have been pledged a new U.S.-led drive to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Arab diplomatic sources said countries as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have been told of a U.S. campaign that would launch accelerated negotiations to provide the Palestinians with a state and a peace treaty with Israel. The efforts would be capped by international guarantees.

The drive is expected to be announced as early as next week when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the United Nations. Powell is expected to announce U.S. support for a Palestinian state.

Osama El Baz, the political adviser to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said Washington could begin the drive by the end of the year. El Baz said the effort is meant to last between six months and a year.

In a lecture at Cairo University, El Baz said the Bush administration regards Israel as a burden in its Middle East policy. El Baz said the realization came during the U.S. efforts to forge an international coalition against terrorism in wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

"Israel will have to pull out of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese Shabaa plateau," he said.

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