Middle East

Weeks of invisible diplomacy and quiet arm twisting by the U.S. have produced the first significant step toward an Arab-Israeli peace conference. Flying to the region on Saturday for his fourth round of talks in two months, Secretary of State James Baker said Saudi Arabia and its five allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council will send an observer to the conference if it is held. They will also participate in regional working groups on problems like arms control and water resources.

Saudi Arabia and its neighbors -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- are the first Arab states after Egypt to agree to sit down and talk formally with Israel. That alone, says Baker, "will break at least one major taboo." A Saudi official in Washington agrees: "The camel's nose is in the tent."

But first the tent must go up. Baker moves on this week from Damascus to < Cairo, Amman and Jerusalem to keep pushing at the obstacles that still block the peace conference. If he makes no progress, said a senior official, "I think we ought to stop flying around and decide what we do next."