Baker Adds Jordan to Itinerary as He Heads Again for Middle East

Secretary of State James A. Baker III, looking for a formula for Mideast peace talks, is turning to Jordan for support as U.S. policy shifts from irritation with the Arab kingdom to giving it a major role in regional diplomacy.

At the same time, U.S. discontent with Israel over expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank appears to be rising.

“I will make my views with respect to settlements known, as indeed I already have, with the Israeli leadership directly,” Baker said Tuesday before leaving Washington.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater called the latest West Bank settlement “an obstacle to peace.”

Baker will first stop in Luxembourg to consult with European Community officials on the Kurdish refugee crisis. On Thursday, he will fly to Israel on his third visit in little more than six weeks. He will also hold talks in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Baker met last Friday in Geneva with Jordanian Foreign Minister Taher Masri and gained the kingdom’s support, in principle, for a Mideast peace conference. But the agenda and the format remain unsettled, causing Baker to return quickly for further discussions with all sides. The Bush Administration had kept its distance from King Hussein, resenting his criticism of the U.S. campaign to force Iraq out of Kuwait.

In London, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Soviet Prime Minister Valentin S. Pavlov met Tuesday for the first time, and Shamir said diplomatic ties will have to be re-established if Moscow is to take part in a Mideast peace conference. Moscow broke with Israel after the 1967 Middle East War. Diplomatic ties have been resumed at consular levels in recent years.