‘three-way Summit’ Between Israel, Egypt and Jordan Seen As a Possibility

A “three-way summit” meeting between Israel, Egypt and Jordan was described as “possible” by a top aide to Premier Yitzhak Shamir following Shamir’s meeting Thursday with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy who arrived from Jordan, Israel Radio reported.

The radio report quoted a remark by Yosef Ben-Aharon, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, in a television interview taped for broadcast Thursday evening.

According to the report, Ben-Aharon said “It is possible to expect a three-way summit between Premier Shamir, the President of Egypt (Hosni Mubarak) and King Hussein” (of Jordan). He said the meeting would be held “in Aqaba (Jordan) or EL Arish” in Egypt.

Ben-Aharon was also quoted as saying that Shamir would meet shortly with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank to urge them to form a delegation for peace talks with Israel and Jordan.

EXPLORATORY MISSION BY MURPHY

Murphy, who is Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs and the State Department’s leading expert on the Middle East, is on his first visit to the region since last September. His mission has been described as exploratory, to see how the stalled peace process could be advanced. But American diplomats have cautioned against expectations of a breakthrough at this time.

Murphy has meetings scheduled with Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin before he leaves for an Arab capital Friday. His destination was not disclosed for security reasons, but expectations are that he will go to Cairo.

In Amman Wednesday, Murphy indicated that the U.S. does not favor a joint preparatory committee for an international conference on Middle East peace. Peres and Mubarak agreed to set up such a committee when they met in Alexandria last November.