Office of the Historian

382. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, October 19, 1965, 4:30 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Yemen; US-UAR Relations

PARTICIPANTS

  • H.E. Omar Saqqaf, Deputy Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia
  • H.E. Ibrahim al Sowayel, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia
  • The Secretary
  • NE—Harrison M. Symmes
  • NE—David Korn

1. Yemen

After an exchange of greetings, the Secretary said he would be interested in learning from Mr. Saqqaf how the Saudi-UAR agreement on Yemen is working out.

Mr. Saqqaf said the Saudis are fully behind the Jidda agreement and to date had encountered no difficulty in its implementation. Nasser was equally determined to make the agreement work, for he was anxious to be rid of the Yemen problem. This problem could be considered two-thirds solved. The Secretary said he had the impression that the Yemenis themselves might be causing some trouble. Mr. Saqqaf replied that the Yemenis were indeed “difficult” and, if left to themselves, would wreck everything. However, now that the Saudis and the UAR had reached agreement, he could assure that there would be no mix-up and that the Yemenis would take the right direction. Mr. Saqqaf indicated that the Saudis would be prepared to give assistance to a Yemeni coalition government following the Haradh conference.

The Secretary expressed pleasure over Saudi-UAR determination to make the Jidda agreement work and said the US would also be interested in helping the Yemenis if they get on the right path.

The Secretary asked whether the Jidda agreement had been reinforced by a private understanding between Faisal and Nasser. Mr. Saqqaf said that most of what was agreed on at Jidda was made public, although there had been a private understanding regarding the choosing of the royalist and republican delegations to the Haradh conference. Mr. Saqqaf said the Jidda agreement should not be looked upon as a [Page 719] diplomatic victory for either side. However it did show that Nasser was a courageous man.

Mr. Saqqaf said the Jidda agreement had also been beneficial in shaking the socialist front in the Arab world. The Secretary said it was his impression that there was a mood of moderation in the Arab world now. Saqqaf agreed, stating that in Iraq there was no longer talk of socialism and the Syrians were fed up with socialist slogans. Iraq was now going the right way.

The Secretary asked how active the Chinese Communists were in Yemen. Mr. Saqqaf replied that they were not very active now and that in any case the Chinese were too poor to accomplish anything serious. They could do little more than spread propaganda. Mr. Saqqaf stated that Peiping is losing everywhere as the result of US policy. The world knows that the US is no longer a paper tiger. Mr. Saqqaf said that there is no profit in the US trying to “be nice”.

Mr. Symmes remarked that he had noted considerable Chinese Communist activity in Yemen when visiting Yemen six weeks ago. Mr. Saqqaf acknowledged there are now 500 Chinese in Yemen and that a number of large projects are being considered for implementation by the Chinese. Mr. Symmes noted that the problem of Chinese Communist presence in Yemen could become critical.

2. US-UAR Relations

During discussion of the Saudi-UAR agreement on Yemen, the Secretary remarked that internal economic difficulties may have strengthened the UAR’s desire to come to terms. The Secretary said the Yemen war had caused many strains in US-UAR relations.

Mr. Saqqaf asked if US-UAR relations had improved as a result of the Jidda agreement. The Secretary said we had hopes in this direction but time was required to repair our ties. The Secretary said there is no doubt that if the Jidda agreement is carried out it will make a significant impression on our relations with Cairo.

The Secretary asked if the return of the 50,000 Egyptian troops now in Yemen would cause Nasser trouble. Mr. Saqqaf said the soldiers would be brought back in small groups, discharged and put to work in light industry or handicrafts. Nasser had matters firmly in hand. Mr. Saqqaf said he had been pleased to learn of Mohieddine’s appointment and anticipated that the UAR’s economic situation would improve considerably as a result of this move. The Egyptian people had welcomed Mohieddine’s appointment, he said.

  1. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964-66, POL 27 YEMEN. Confidential. Drafted by David A. Korn (NEA) on October 21 and approved in S on November 12. The memorandum is part I of IV. Part III is Document 254. The time of the meeting is from Rusk’s Daily Diary. (Johnson Library)↩