Editorial Note
Prince Abdullah arrived at Washington on July 14 with a party of four official and three unofficial members. “The high points of his stay here were the call on President Truman at 12:15 on Wednesday, July 16 and the call on Secretary Marshall at 11:30 the next day. Apart from a general ceremonious greeting mixed with pleasantries and compliments, Prince Abdullah said nothing to President Truman except to express the hope that America would show the same justice in dealing with the Palestine and Egyptian problems as it had shown in its other foreign relations.
“In his talk with Secretary Marshall Prince Abdullah voiced the same hope in regard to Palestine and Egypt. In addition, he said that the Government of Yemen was anxious to join the United Nations, provided it was assured of the support of the United States. Secretary Marshall replied that this matter would receive the careful attention of the Department of State.”
Prince Abdullah handed three letters to the Secretary, one dated June 12 from the Imam of Yemen, and two dated June 19 from the Yemeni Foreign Office. The latter communications requested modern arms for the Yemeni army, a $2,000,000 credit for purchases in the United States, and assistance in obtaining United States dollars to finance purchases under the recent surplus property agreement. Further discussions with Department officers centered on these subjects and on financing the mission of the Prince to the United States, harbor and other development projects, the need for American advisers, the matter of interesting American companies in prospecting for oil and other subsoil deposits, and cultural relations’(report of July 17 by Richard H. Sanger of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs entitled “Official Visit to Washington of Prince Saif al-Islam Abdullah, of Yemen,” 890J.0011/7–1747).
The Prince was handed four communications, each signed by the Secretary of State and dated August 8, in reply to the messages he had delivered. They suggested that Yemen furnish detailed information as to the number and types of arms desired and the use to be made of them; that Yemen prepare, for consideration by the Export-Import [Page 1345] Bank, technical studies of proposed projects and methods of repaying the proposed credit; and that Yemeni officials discuss the availability of surplus property with the representative of the Office of the Foreign Liquidation Commissioner at Cairo (890J.0011/8–847).
The official statements issued in connection with the Prince’s visit are printed in Department of State Bulletin, July 13 and 27, 1947, pages 101 and 198.
The United States announced before the General Assembly on September 30, 1947, its hearty support for the admission of Yemen to membership in the United Nations. The Assembly voted admission unanimously the same day (United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Second Session, Plenary Meetings, pages 313, 316).
A surplus property agreement was entered into at Cairo on May 24, 1947, by Prince Abdullah and a representative of the Office of the Foreign Liquidation Commissioner. The agreement extended a line of credit of up to $1,000,000 for Yemeni purchases of American surplus property prior to January 1, 1948 (890J.24/8–2847). Yemen made no such purchases, however, and the Department regarded the agreement as expired on December 31, 1947 (memorandum of March 4, 1948, by Chester M. Carré, Monetary Consultant to the Foreign Liquidation Commissioner, to Joseph C. Satterthwaite, Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, 890J.24/5–2447).