Office of the Historian

224. Telegram From Secretary of State Kissinger to the Embassy in Jordan1

Moscow, October 21, 1973, 1716Z.

Secto 11/13137. Eyes Only for the Ambassador.

1. Please pass following message to King Hussein from the Secretary.

2. Begin text.

Your Majesty: As a result of my meetings last evening and today with General Secretary Brezhnev, we and the Soviets have reached agreement on the text of a Security Council resolution which our representatives will present to the Council this evening.

3. The resolution does three things:

A. It calls for a cease-fire in place no later than 12 hours following adoption;

B. It calls upon the parties to start immediately after the cease-fire the implementation of SC 242 in all its parts; and

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C. It provides that negotiations start immediately between the parties concerned under appropriate auspices aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.

4. This resolution meets the objectives for which we have been working so tirelessly since the outbreak of the present fighting, as I have described them to Your Majesty in earlier messages. Let me say again that your steadfastness and courage have been a source of support to us in our efforts to bring the present crisis to an end and lay the basis for new efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement. I will value Your Majesty’s continued support as those efforts go forward.2

Sincerely, Henry A. Kissinger

Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 722, Country Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. XXIX, [May 1973–22 Oct., 1973]. Secret; Flash; Cherokee; Nodis. Repeated Immediate to the Department of State.↩
  2. In telegram 5624 from Amman, October 21, Brown reported that Hussein was sending elements of the 99th Brigade into Syria to establish a “phantom division” so as to be able to say Jordan sent major forces to Syria before the cease-fire. Also in the telegram was Hussein’s reply to this message in which Hussein shared his hopes for the joint resolution and explained his decision to establish a tactical command in Syria. (Ibid., Box 618, Country Files, Middle East, Jordan, IX, January–October 1973)↩