The Campaign for American Leadership in the Middle East said it would kick off the campaign Thursday with a news conference and the launch of a website at www.mideastcalm.org featuring an open letter to the president which visitors can sign.

More than 80 leading Americans already have joined the group, including former US senator George Mitchell, who headed a fact-finding commission from 2000-2001 aimed at ending a breach in Israeli-Palestinian talks that nearly reached a settlement before violence erupted.

The group's goal is to convince Americans that a quick achievement of the two-state solution endorsed by the Bush administration is in the US national interest, the statement said.

"As this attracts more and more signatures from across the country, we believe it can play an important role in providing a tangible expression of domestic support for strong and sustained US efforts to help the parties reach a two-state solution to the conflict," Mitchell said.