Jordan Tells Murphy It Wants Syria Included in Peace Talks

Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy said Wednesday that Jordan feels “very strongly” that Syria ought to be included in the Mideast peace process. Israel called the report “a turn for the worse.”

Murphy, who is President Reagan’s special Mideast envoy, concluded a 12-day swing through the Middle East and south Asia, reporting to heads of state on the Geneva summit and discussing chances of reviving the Mideast peace process.

“I think Jordan feels very strongly Syria has to be included in a peace process,” Murphy told reporters after a 75-minute meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir.

Murphy said that Jordan and Syria have held three rounds of talks at the prime ministers’ level and that a fourth round will be held soon.

Syria is Israel’s main adversary in the Middle East. Jordan and Israel, although technically in a state of war, have had frequent indirect contacts through the years.

Israeli officials said Murphy indicated to Shamir that King Hussein of Jordan is disappointed in the peace partnership he formed last February with the Palestine Liberation Organization and wants President Hafez Assad of Syria to support his effort toward negotiations with Israel.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Avi Pazner told reporters that, as a result of the Jordanian-Syrian talks, “Jordan’s attitude has taken a turn for the worse.”

Pazner noted that both Jordan and Syria have reiterated their opposition to direct talks with Israel. Prime Minister Shimon Peres proposed that such talks begin before the end of 1985 in his Oct. 21 address to the United Nations.

Pazner said that while in Syria, Murphy found no interest in negotiations with Israel. He quoted Murphy as saying that Jordan is committed to trying to join a peace process but has made no move because it has not received a reply from the PLO.

Jordan has asked the PLO to renounce violence and recognize U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338. The resolutions, which in effect call for recognition of Israel, were rejected by the PLO in late November.