U.S. Envoy, Syria Minister Confer

BEIRUT — Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy held lengthy talks Saturday with Syrian’s foreign minister in Damascus on a U.S. plan to resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict, state-run Radio Damascus and diplomats said.

The radio, monitored in Beirut, said Murphy arrived in the Syrian capital late Friday on the first leg of a Middle East tour that includes Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of renewed U.S. diplomatic effort to bring about peace on the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Radio Damascus and foreign diplomats said Murphy and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh met for five hours and discussed a Washington plan to resolve the protracted Israeli-Arab conflict.