Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1945, The Near East and Africa, Volume VIII

890F.24/5–1645

The British Embassy to the Department of State

Aide-Mémoire

1. His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom have given full consideration to the memorandum from the State Department, dated the 21st [24th] April, 1945, in which were set out the views of the United States Government on the scale of the 1945 supply programme to be made available on a joint subsidy basis to Saudi Arabia.

2. His Majesty’s Government are grateful for the care which has been given to the study of this problem, and they appreciate the anxiety of the United States Government to maintain the basis of an equal sharing of the subsidy supply programme. But His Majesty’s Government regret that they are unable to agree that the joint 1945 subsidy programme should be on the scale envisaged by the United States Government—namely one of $16,000,000, (made up of supplies valued at $13,000,000 plus silver riyals), and they feel bound to adhere to the view that the British share of the joint programme should not exceed $5,000,000, which would include the cost (estimated at $40,000 a month) of supporting Saudi Arabian missions abroad.

3. Accordingly His Majesty’s Government suggest that the alternative arrangement proposed in paragraph 10 of State Department’s note of the 21st [24th] April should be adopted and that there should be a joint subsidy supply programme, to be shared equally by both Governments, valued at $10,000,000, leaving the United States Government to supply under lend-lease both silver riyals plus an individual supply programme of trucks, tyres, spare parts and the like valued at some $3,000,000.

4. His Majesty’s Government have been led to the above conclusion partly by the desire to avoid further delays in communicating to Ibn Saud the scale upon which assistance will be made available to him by the United States and the United Kingdom Governments in respect of 1945. It is accordingly hoped that if the United States Government is prepared to agree to the arrangement summarised in the preceding paragraph, a joint communication can be made to the King as soon as possible. The Foreign Office is preparing the draft of such a note which will be communicated to the State Department as soon as possible, while the Resident Minister in Cairo³ has been asked to concert with the F.E.A. representative there a schedule of supplies to constitute the proposed joint subsidy programme and to be included in an annex to the joint communication to Ibn Saud. It would be appreciated if instructions could be sent to the F.E.A. representative to cooperate in this task.

Washington , May 16, 1945.

3. Sir Edward Grigg, British Minister Resident in the Middle East.