Office of the Historian

405. Briefing Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Hare) to Secretary of State Rusk1

Washington, August 2, 1966.

SUBJECT

  • Your Meeting with Yemeni Ambassador Muhsin al-Aini, August 3, 11:00 a.m.

Discussion:

Ambassador Al-Aini will be accompanied by Mr. Held of NEA/ARP. A biographic sketch is attached.2

The Ambassador has just returned from consultation in Cairo with top officials of his government, having participated in the initial stages of a confrontation between Yemeni and UAR leaders over continued Egyptian domination of Yemen. He reports that formerly pro-UAR Prime Minister Al-Amri and other top YARG figures are now prepared to stand up to the Egyptians and believes that the YARG is well on its way to limiting UAR control of his country. Ambassador Al-Aini also foresees better US-Yemeni relations and has expressed the hope that the US would take steps to promote an improved atmosphere. Specific items the Ambassador may raise in this context are the YARG’s request for famine relief and the proposed Sanaa water works project.

Probably unknown to Ambassador Al-Aini, his assertions of Yemeni independence of Cairo have been reflected in clandestine approaches to our Embassy in Yemen by civilian and military officers of the YARG. These officials, who claim they speak for powerful but unnamed groups of Yemenis, have expressed disgust over high-handed YAR actions and stated that the formation of a new Yemeni government against UAR wishes is under consideration. They have asked for US and Saudi financial assistance sufficient to insure payment of Yemeni Army salaries (approximately $500,000 per month). We have instructed our Embassy to discourage such requests.3 While we sympathize with Yemeni efforts to establish a moderate government, we believe it most important that we avoid giving any impression of partisan US involvement in Yemeni domestic politics.

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Following talks in Jidda and Cairo late last month, the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister announced that King Faisal and President Nasser have agreed to send representatives to Kuwait shortly for direct negotiations on Yemen. The UAR and the Saudis have reportedly accepted the principal elements of a six point Kuwaiti proposal but are apparently still in disagreement over the length of time to be alloted for withdrawal of UAR troops from Yemen and the point at which the Yemeni royal family should be banned from the country.

We have been trying since mid-January to arrange a program for distribution of food to all hungry Yemenis, both royalist and republican. The YARG has refused to accept a proposal for distribution of US-supplied food by the ICRC. We are at present attempting to arrange for distribution of food in all Yemen through the World Food Program (WFP) of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The YARG itself has requested help from this agency, but the WFP has not yet decided whether it can undertake an “all-Yemen” program.

Recommendation:

That you tell Ambassador Al-Aini:

a.
We sympathize with the YARG’s desire to be master in its own house.
b.
We are encouraged by the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister’s apparent success in persuading the UAR and the Saudis to agree to send representatives to Kuwait for talks on Yemen. We are hopeful these talks will result in a settlement acceptable to all the parties involved.

If Ambassador Al-Aini raises the Sanaa water project or the YARG request for famine relief, that you:

a.
Suggest that he discuss the Sanaa water project with Mr. Macomber during their meeting scheduled for August 4. (Barring an increase in the AID allotment for Yemen, this project would require a sizeable diversion of funds from our very successful urban and rural development program. It is not currently under consideration by AID.)
b.
Express hope that, for humanitarian reasons, arrangements can be made soon for food to be distributed to all hungry Yemenis, either through the WFP, if that agency is preferred by YARG and is willing to undertake the program, or through the ICRC, if the WFP cannot respond to YARG’s request.4

  1. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, NEA/ARP Files: Lot 69 D 257, Political Affairs & Rel., YEMEN 1966, POL YEMEN-UNITED STATES. Secret. Drafted by Korn; cleared by UAR Country Director Donald C. Bergus and Director of AID’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs James C. Flint.↩
  2. Attached but not printed.↩
  3. See Document 404.↩
  4. Rusk met with Ambassador Al-Aini at 11:05 a.m. on August 3. (Johnson Library, Rusk Appointment Book)↩