World Notes

After America's victory in the gulf war, Middle East governments apparently would rather be seen saying yes than no to Washington. Secretary of State James Baker, in his second swing through the area in a month, visited five countries last week to explore the idea of a regional peace conference. He received carefully hedged encouragement from Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan.

That was a triumph of modest proportions, though Baker pointed out that a regional meeting could not be arranged "with one trip or even two trips." The governments' long-standing preconditions are likely to re-emerge as they try to agree on who will participate and what the agenda will be.

Arab states like Egypt, for example, contend that such talks should take place in an international forum. Israel insists on direct negotiations with each Arab state. If the conference does convene, it will have to confront an even more fundamental conflict: the Arabs demand the return of the territory Israel conquered in the 1967 war; Israel's leaders say never.