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Hussein Said to Plan Moscow Trip to Gain Support for Mideast Confab

November 23, 1987
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King Hussein of Jordan plans to go to Moscow to personally seek support from Soviet leadership for an international conference to resolve the Israel-Arab conflict.

He may also visit the capitals of the other four permanent menbers of the United Nations Security Council for the same purpose or send his senior ministers, according to West German diplomats. No dates were given for these trips.

Hussein reportedly disclosed his plans to West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who returned from a visit to Jordan Saturday.

Diplomats here said Hussein was hopeful that a breakthrough is possible in efforts to advance the Middle East peace process. They praised his resolve to push ahead despite major obstacles.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visited Brussels and Paris last week and will be in London Monday seeking West European support for an international conference. But Israeli Premier Yitzhak Shamir and his Likud bloc oppose an international conference.

Diplomats here said Hussein told Genscher that the Arab world emerged from the recent Arab summit meeting in Amman largely united behind the idea of an international conference. He said the Palestine Liberation Organization and other extremists were isolated and their influence diminished.

The Jordanian ruler expressed a desire to see general European participation in the proposed conference, apart from the Security Council members. The council members are, in addition to the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Britain and the People’s Republic of China.

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