Hussein, Mubarak to Map Strategy for Reviving Mideast Peace Effort

King Hussein of Jordan will arrive in Cairo today to confer with President Hosni Mubarak on a strategy to salvage their Middle East peace initiative when both leaders meet with President Reagan in the United States later this month, Egyptian government officials said.

The surprise summit, announced only hours before Hussein was due to arrive, comes amid efforts by the Reagan Administration to revive the stalled peace initiative following an unproductive tour of the region last month by Mideast envoy Richard W. Murphy, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said in Washington earlier Friday that Mubarak and Hussein, who will both be among the leaders addressing the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly later this month, will meet with Reagan on Sept. 23 and Sept. 30, respectively.

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official said Hussein and Mubarak felt it was necessary to “coordinate their efforts to promote the peace process now that the whole thing has stumbled and the American effort has reached a stalemate.”

The official was referring to so far unsuccessful efforts by Jordan and Egypt to persuade the United States to meet with a joint delegation of Jordanians and Palestinians proposed by Hussein and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat as a first step toward promoting peace talks with Israel.

According to the scenario mapped out by Hussein and Arafat in an agreement last February, the first meeting with the United States would lead to U.S. recognition of the PLO in exchange for Arafat’s public acceptance of Israel’s right to exist. This would in turn pave the way for PLO participation in the peace process and lead to an international conference, where Israel would be asked to accept the establishment of a confederated Jordanian-Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories it has occupied since 1967.

The United States, however, is opposed to the idea of an international peace conference and wants the talks with the joint delegation to lead instead to direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan.

The Israelis, for their part, have refused to negotiate with the PLO and fear that even an initial meeting with the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation would be tantamount to U.S. recognition of the guerrilla organization.