A senior Egyptian official Saturday said that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East is a new effort by the United States to break stalemate in the region's peace process.

Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad said in a statement that Rice's visit aims to exchange the viewpoints with the leaders in this region on how to revive the stalled Mideast peace process.

It was earlier reported that Rice would come with a peace plan or proposal to establish a Palestinian statehood with temporary borders. But Rice denied the reports on her way to the region, saying that she did not come with any specific peace plans.

However, citing the roadmap plan, Awad said that in the second stage of the plan, a Palestinian state with temporary borders should be established while an international conference should be held.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinians are skeptical of the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders, he added.

According to Awad, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Friday had a telephone conversation with Bush, who called him after receiving a message from Mubarak on the necessity of reviving the Middle East peace process.

The two presidents discussed in the phone the Palestinian issue in addition to other Arab issues especially the Iraqi problem, he added.

On Friday, Rice left the U.S. to kick off her week-long trip to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Luxor, Amman, Kuwait City, Riyadh, London and Berlin.

Source: Xinhua