U.S. Said to Weigh Provisional State for Palestinians
No final decision has been made, Secretary Powell said in an interview published today in Al Hayat, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper, and later to reporters. But he said that President Bush had not backed away from his goal of establishing a Palestinian state, and that the question was how best to do so.

"He knows that to get to that vision, it may be necessary to have a provisional state, an interim step; it may take several steps to get there," Secretary Powell said in the Al Hayat interview, conducted on Monday.

He added, "I think almost everybody has come to the agreement that there is a need for provisional or interim steps; the question is for how long should that be the case, and how does one get to the comprehensive solution at the end."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/13/international/middleeast/13DIPL.html