The World - News from Oct. 2, 1986

Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir said that after he takes over as prime minister, he will try to convince Jordan that direct talks are the only way to achieve peace in the Middle East. The leader of the conservative Likud Bloc is scheduled to switch jobs with Prime Minister Shimon Peres of the Labor Party on Oct. 14 under the coalition government’s power-sharing agreement. Speaking to reporters on his return from a 10-day visit to the United States, Shamir discounted the idea of an international conference to reach a peace agreement in the Middle East. “The name of the game is direct talks, and that’s the opinion of the United States and that’s the opinion of Israel,” he said. “I think we will have to convince our Jordanian neighbors to accept this way of getting peace.”