890F.77/10–346: Telegram
President Truman to the King of Saudi Arabia ( Abdul Aziz )29
us urgent niact
The message which Your Majesty asked General Giles to transmit to me has been received and studied with great interest. I am highly gratified by your expression of friendship for myself and the American people.
I note that you have pledged your word to your people to build a railroad from the east coast of Saudi Arabia to Riyadh to bring in supplies and oil equipment and to aid in the development of the hinterland, and that you feel a highway would not serve your country effectively. The question of such a railroad is under active discussion at this moment between your able Minister of Finance and high economic officials of this Government, particularly the President of the Export-Import Bank, and will receive our very careful consideration. I assure your Majesty that the problem is being approached with a maximum of sympathy and that every effort is being made to work out a solution which will be satisfactory to you. I shall send you a more complete answer to your message as soon as the matter has been studied in further detail.30
- Sent to the Legation at Jidda as Department’s telegram 244 with the instruction: “For transmittal to King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud from President Truman”. The telegram was repeated to Cairo with the addition of the following sentence: “Please repeat your 1641 Oct 1 to Jidda.”↩
- The King’s reply to this message, dated October 6, 1946, and transmitted to the Department in Legation’s telegram 294, October 6, expressed his thanks and gratefulness to President Truman for his “considerable attention” to the King’s plan (890F.77/10–646).↩