The World - News from Jan. 11, 1987

Egypt and the United States disagree over the need for an international conference on Middle East peace, with Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy calling instead fro direct Arab-Isreali negotiations. After a one-hour meeting in Cairo with Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid, Murphy said Washington “did not see value” in a conference involving the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. “What we are interested in is a settlement achieved through direct negotiations and how those can be arranged,” Murphy said.