July 22, 1991

Jordan joined Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia today in agreeing to attend a regional peace conference proposed by the United States. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel, however, told the visiting American Secretary of State, James A. Baker 3d, that he wanted more time to consider the matter. King Hussein said, "We are ready to attend a peace conference, and we are very happy indeed it is going to be a comprehensive one." The Jordanian ruler spoke at a news conference with Mr. Baker after their talks in Amman, Jordan's capital. Until now, Jordan has wavered on accepting the American proposal, waiting to see if Syria would. 5 Acceptances in His Pocket Mr. Baker, armed with commitments from the five Arab countries to take part in a conference that would open the way for direct negotiations with Israel, flew here from Amman to try to persuade Mr. Shamir to drop his opposition to the proposed peace talks. The Israeli Government, though, seemed shocked -- confronted by Mr. Baker after he obtained, over three days, commitments from the Arabs to take part in the conference and in subsequent direct talks. Jordan also joined Saudi Arabia and Egypt in offering to suspend the Arab economic boycott of Israel if it will suspend the building of settlements in the occupied lands. And President Bush, on a visit to Turkey, again suggested that Israel halt settlement building on the West Bank. The Israeli public appears skeptical about the latest round of American diplomacy, tempering hope with caution. [ Page A6. ] Deadline or No Deadline Mr. Baker denied that he had set a deadline for an Israeli response on peace talks, but American officials say it is possible that when President Bush and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev meet in Moscow on July 30 and 31, they will issue invitations to the conference -- as its joint sponsors -- whether the Israelis have responded positively or not. Such a move would put Israel under even greater pressure to attend. "We have always indicated that that would be something we might pursue," said Mr. Baker, when asked whether invitations would soon be sent. "Of course, it would be much better, if there is going to be a conference, if everybody could sign on before invitations are issued." Senior Israeli officials said they had no idea what Mr. Shamir was going to do, and the Israeli Prime Minister was saying nothing. Mr. Shamir's dilemma, though, is clear. If he says yes to Mr. Baker, his fragile coalition Government is likely to collapse and he will be challenged by members of his own rightist Likud bloc. If he says no, he risks alienating Israel from the United States, and from much of the rest of the world. Mr. Baker met with Mr. Shamir alone for 90 minutes. The meeting was taken up almost entirely with a review of the essence of the letter that President Hafez al-Assad of Syria sent to Mr. Bush a week ago. In that letter, the Syrian leader is said to have committed his Government to take part in the peace conference and subsequent direct talks. The Israelis have been deeply suspicious that Washington and Damascus struck some sort of deal. American officials said that Mr. Baker, without actually showing Mr. Shamir the Assad letter, had briefed him both on its contents and on the side assurances that the United States had provided the Syrians. What U.S. Would Do for Syria Those side assurances mostly involve restatements of American policy: that the United States does not recognize the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights; that it believes that United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, calling on Israel to exchange land for peace, applies to the Golan Heights as well as to the West Bank, and that the United States is committed to pushing any peace negotiations actively, so as not to allow delays. Mr. Shamir asked Mr. Baker for more time to consider the matter, and the two men will be meeting again on Monday. "We are not under any pressure to give an answer soon," the Prime Minister's spokesman, Avi Pazner, said. "The problem is content, not deadlines." Before Mr. Baker met with Mr. Shamir, he held talks with three West Bank Palestinian leaders, led by Faisal al-Husseini, and made it clear to them that they, too, had to make some hard decisions. American officials said it was a tough, and at times emotional, encounter in which the Palestinians were essentially told that as the weakest party in the equation, they would have to accept previously unpalatable political realities. One of those is that the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Yasir Arafat, can have no direct involvement with their delegation to the peace conference, since that would prompt the Israelis to walk out immediately. The other is that no Palestinians from East Jerusalem can take part in the first stage of the negotiations. The Israelis have ruled this out, arguing that such a role would imply that East Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed, was negotiable. But it is possible that the second restriction might be finessed if there is a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation and Palestinians born in Jerusalem take part with Jordanian passports. Despite those restrictions, the Palestinian leaders were told that they would soon have to come up with a list of acceptable representatives, American officials said. An intriguing thing about the endorsements that Mr. Baker has won from the Arab countries is that the Arab leaders all say in public that they are ready to accept Mr. Bush's proposal to attend "a peace conference" to reach a "comprehensive solution" based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. But none of them ever mentions that this conference is intended as a ceremonial opening event for direct Arab-Israeli talks. American officials insist that the Arab leaders have privately assured them that they understand this, but do not now want to say it publicly for fear of alienating their own hard-liners. Each one, instead, allows Mr. Baker to say it for him. Thus, when reporters asked King Hussein today if he would say in public that he was committed to direct talks with Israel, he was not pleased. Looking a bit flummoxed, the King replied, "This is about the most ridiculous question I have ever heard." If it is so simple, the reporters persisted, why not give just a simple answer? "What do you attend a conference to do?" the King retorted. "To mime? To make faces at each other, or to discuss and try to resolve the problem? I have been calling for this for years and years. I assure you that this is really the intention, and it is very, very clear." As the journalists continued to press the King to say the words "direct bilateral talks with Israel," he declared the news conference over and walked out with Mr. Baker. -------------------- BUSH REITERATES VIEW ISTANBUL, Turkey, July 21 (Special to The New York Times) -- President Bush, on a visit to Turkey, suggested once again today that Israel should be flexible for the sake of peace in the Middle East and halt settlement building on the West Bank. "The question of settlements has been important," Mr. Bush said, in response to a reporter's question at a meeting here today with Turkish opposition leaders. "I haven't encountered anybody in this part of the world that thinks increasing settlements is a helpful thing. And the United States policy has been opposed to it for years." The President also said he did not want to use a "volatile" word like pressure in talking about his stance with the Israelis. He preferred to call it "reasoning and taking this -- what I keep calling a new credibility for the United States in the Middle East -- and using that to encourage what is a very reasonable and important step to peace."

A 14-year-old youth emerged from a midtown Manhattan hotel Saturday afternoon, the police say, walked up to an officer, handed over a gun and calmly gave this message: he had just killed a man in a fifth-floor room. The police are trying to determine exactly what led up to the killing of the man, 35-year-old Luis V. Cabrera. But yesterday, they charged the youth, Luis Montalvo, with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. They said the youth shot Mr. Cabrera seven times.

Ian Baker-Finch answered his doubters and, more important, his pursuers today by scoring the lowest nine-hole figure ever shot on the final day of a major championship and then cruising home to win the 120th British Open at Royal Birkdale. The 30-year-old Australian, who played poorly near the lead on the final day of the 1984 and 1990 British Opens, was nearly flawless in bursting out today with five front-nine birdies for a 29 to take a commanding five-shot lead.

Trans World Airlines and American Airlines plan to make an offer today for much of Pan American World Airways, challenging Pan Am's agreement to sell most of its assets to Delta. People involved in planning the offer said yesterday that T.W.A. and American wanted to divide up much of the bankrupt carrier.

As the four-wheel-drive lurches across the mountain, splashes through the creek and bounces down a graveled lane, miles from the cushioned comforts of blacktop, a thought occurs: John Denver may have immortalized West Virginia's country roads, but he didn't have to drive on them. In West Virginia, the struggle to build and maintain roads is a Sisyphean quest that is woven into the state's politics, with significant social and economic consequences.