ISRAEL'S NEW PRIME MINISTER, MRS GOLDA MEIR, HAS DECLARED SHE IS READY TO GO TO AMMAN FOR TALKS WITH KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN IN AN EFFORT TO BRING PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST. MRS MEIR WAS SPEAKING AT A NEWS CONFERENCE IN JERUSALEM ON TUESDAY (18 MARCH), THE DAY AFTER SHE WAS SWORN IN AS THE COUNTRY'S NEW LEADER.

MRS MEIR, A 70-YEAR-OLD GRANDMOTHER, SAID SHE WAS PREPARED TO GO TO THE JORDANIAN CAPITAL TO MEET KING HUSSEIN JUST AS SHE HAD GONE TO MEET HIS GRANDFATHER, KING ABDULLAH, IN 1948. ON THAT OCCASION, SHE MADE A VAIN LAST-MINUTE BID TO AVERT THE ARAB-JEWISH WAR, TRAVELLING ACROSS THE GUERRILLA BATTLE LINES ROBED AND VEILED LIKE AN ARAB WOMAN.

MRS MEIR SAID ANY PEACE TALKS DEPENDED ENTIRELY ON KING HUSSEIN.