U.S. Aide Willing to Add Syria to Tour

A senior State Department official due to tour the Mideast next month would welcome a chance to have talks with Syrian officials, the State Department said Friday.

Department spokesman Edward P. Djerejian appeared to be seeking an invitation for Richard W. Murphy, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, where President Hafez Assad’s policies have long been in sharp conflict with U.S. positions.

Murphy is a former U.S. ambassador to Syria and is said to be highly respected in Damascus.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz announced the Murphy trip two weeks ago in the wake of criticism from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other Mideast leaders that the United States was doing little for the cause of Mideast peace and that U.S. policy in the region has become “almost defeatist.” Shultz said that Murphy would be going to Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries.