Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The Near East, South Asia, and Africa, Volume VI

711.90F/4–249

The Ambassador in Saudi Arabia (Childs) to the Secretary of State

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Jidda, April 2, 1949.

No. 83

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of the Department’s telegram No. 93 of March 23, 1949 to Dhahran¹ as well as of the Department’s telegram No. 127 of March 28, 1949 to Jidda² and to confirm the telegram I sent from Dhahran on March 31, 1949 (Dhahran’s No. 116)² reporting my audience with His Majesty on March 30th at the Riyadh at which time I set forth the position of the United States Government as authorized by the Department in respect to various questions raised by His Majesty.

I arrived at Riyadh on the morning of March 30th en route to Dhahran with His Royal Highness Prince Mansour, Minister of Defense, and immediately upon my arrival at Riyadh was received by His Majesty and spent more than half an hour with him in the company of Prince Saud³ and Fuad Bey Hamza.⁴

His Majesty listened to my oral communication most attentively and appeared to receive the assurances with considerable relief and satisfaction. He requested me to express his appreciation to the United States Government for its message and then said that, while the assurances given him did not fulfill all his desires, he felt it was a good beginning. His Majesty added that his government would naturally have to study the question of the proposed treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation but the impression was left with me that the Saudi Arabian Government would probably welcome the conclusion of such an agreement and a public announcement to that effect. I think the significance of the public announcement was not lost upon His Majesty as a means of indicating to the world our close ties with Saudi Arabia.

In accordance with a request by Fuad Bey Hamza, I prepared an aide-mémoire of my conversation, the transmittal of which was delayed until the receipt of a true copy of the Department’s telegram No. 93 as that telegram had been slightly garbled in transmission to Dhahran. The Department will note that there has been substituted for the Department’s paragraph 9 (see paragraph 8 of the aide-mémoire) an appropriate reference to the sending of a Saudi Arabian delegation to the United States for the signing of the proposed treaty as outlined in the Department’s telegram No. 127. The Department will also note that my aide-mémoire contains a reference to the decision of the United States Government to conclude a long term agreement regarding the Dhahran Airfield which I thought it appropriate to introduce in the light of paragraph 7 of the Department’s telegram No. 93.⁵

Respectfully yours,

J. Rives Childs

Enclosure
The American Ambassador (Childs) to the King of Saudi Arabia (Ibn Saud)

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Aide-Mémoire

The American Ambassador stated that he was in receipt of a telegram from the Department of State in Washington setting forth, as requested by His Majesty, the position of the Government of the United States in respect to various questions raised in the recent past by His Majesty.⁶

The Ambassador added that he had been authorized to inform His Majesty of the following:

1. His Majesty’s requests have all received the most careful and detailed study, both by the Department of State and the National Military Establishment.⁷

2. The United States Government has been happy to act favorably on certain of these requests and the fact that this has not been possible in all cases should not give rise to any uncertainty as to the basic friendship which has always characterized the relations between our two countries. The recent decision to raise the level of our diplomatic representation to Saudi Arabia clearly symbolizes an affirmative approach on the part of the United States Government in its relations with the Saudi Arabian Government.

3. The United States has vast commitments all over the world. The National Military Establishment in the allocation of funds, materials, and men has had to give top priority to projects which have immediate urgency in the protection of the national welfare and the preservation of world peace. At the same time, a strenuous effort has had to be made to keep our military expenditures within the limits of the American economy. Consequently, many projects in themselves worthy have had to be held in abeyance.

4. There have also been legal obstacles in the way of offering further tangible assistance to Saudi Arabia. The Government of the United States does not have permanent statutory authority to send military missions to countries outside the Western Hemisphere, except in the cases of the Philippines, Greece, Turkey and China. Legislation is now pending which would permit the sending of military missions to other countries and the retention of those established under emergency powers during the recent war. However, there is no assurance that this legislation will be approved by the Congress. If approved, the dispatch of any military mission would still be subject to the limitations set forth in paragraph 3 above and the existing political situation.

5. His Majesty’s requests must also be considered in the light of the existing political situation. In speaking of the existing political situation, the United States Government refers specifically to the vexing problem of Palestine. This Government is hopeful that the present armistice negotiations will produce an atmosphere which will permit the United Nations Conciliation Commission to reach a speedy and effective settlement while the United States Government is committed to the support of Israel within the framework of the United Nations Resolution of November 29, 1947⁸ and subsequent resolutions, it is equally committed to a policy of friendship with the Arab states. It is therefore keenly interested in the return of peace to the whole area, in order that the countries concerned can proceed with their plans for economic development and the improvement of living conditions.

6. The American Ambassador, in the light of the general policy set forth above, has been authorized to give the following specific assurances to His Majesty:

The United States desires to solidify and amplify the present cordial relations. The United States Government recognizes fully the Saudi Arabian Government and its sovereignty within its present frontiers. Any threat to the sovereignty of Saudi Arabia or its territorial integrity would be regarded most seriously by the United States Government and the United States Government would support before the United Nations the independence and integrity of Saudi Arabia, in case it should be threatened.

7. In line with the general policy outlined in President Truman’s inaugural address,⁹ this Government desires that the resources of Saudi Arabia be developed to the benefit of the Saudi Arabian people. One of the best defenses against outside aggression is such development and the raising of the standard of living within Saudi Arabia. His Majesty has shown his broad vision in this respect and there are a number of projects under way or envisioned which are designed to promote the development of the country. The United States Government has already demonstrated its interest in such development both in technical advice and financial assistance. Although the Saudi Arabian Government has not found it possible to take advantage to the full extent of American financial assistance, the United States Government stands ready to entertain a request for Export-Import Bank assistance for specific projects. Furthermore, the technical assistance program proposed by the President in his inaugural address may make it possible to give favorable consideration to Saudi Arabia’s request for a Technical Mission to survey the country’s resources and to make recommendations for their development.

8. The possibility of a treaty of alliance has been raised in previous discussions between His Majesty and the American Ambassador. His Majesty will no doubt recognize that the association of the United States with nations outside the Western Hemisphere for defense purposes, as exemplified in the proposed Atlantic Security Pact constituted a radical departure from traditional peacetime policies and a new concept and one with which the United States must proceed slowly. The United States Government has not as yet envisaged the broadening of the defensive security relationship beyond the Atlantic Group. The view of the Department of State is that a basic treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation should be the primary objective in solidifying relations with Saudi Arabia. As an immediate measure it is suggested that a public announcement be made of the intention to negotiate such a treaty to supplement the agreement of November 7, 1933.¹⁰ Provided it were agreeable to His Majesty, and that there would be reasonable assurance that the Saudi Arabian Government would be willing to accept the basic principles outlined in the note from the American Minister to the Minister Plenipotentiary in charge of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated December 21, 1945 (No. 296),¹¹ this announcement could be made at once. This should have the beneficial effect of indicating the growing closeness of the ties between the two countries.

The Ambassador stated that as regarded His Majesty’s proposal that the Saudi Arabian Government send a delegation to the United States or receive a delegation from the United States for the purpose of discussing matters of common interest, the United States considered that the conclusion of the suggested treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation might well offer a suitable occasion for sending a Saudi Arabian delegation to the United States for the signing in Washington of such a treaty. The United States Government would be gratified to receive such a delegation headed by His Royal Highness Prince Saud or by whomever His Majesty might choose to designate for that purpose and the visit would offer a further occasion for the discussion of topics of mutual interest.

The Ambassador stated that he desired to point out that no reference had been made in the foregoing to the subject of the Dhahran Airfield negotiations in view of the fact that these negotiations are current. He added that in the view of the United States Government, however, the Dhahran Airfield provides a symbol of the close cooperation which the United States Government desires to maintain and increase. As one means to that end, the United States Government looks forward during the ensuing twelve months to the conclusion of a long term agreement regarding the Dhahran Airfield.

9. In conclusion, the American Ambassador stated he had been authorized to give special emphasis to the common aims of the United States and Saudi Arabia. The United States is vitally interested in:

a. Saudi Arabian independence,

b. The development by Saudi Arabia of her resources,

c. Resistance to the threat of communist doctrine.

The Saudi Arabian Government has an even greater interest in these major points. The United States Government feels that this mutuality of interest forms one of the best possible guarantees of Saudi Arabian independence and increasingly close relations with the United States.¹²

Jidda, March 30, 1949.

1. Not printed; it provided a general framework of United States policy towards Saudi Arabia which was conveyed orally by Ambassador Childs to King Ibn Sand as reported in the aide-mémoire printed below (711.90F/2–2749).
2. Not printed.
2. Not printed.
3. Crown Prince Saud.
4. Saudi Arabian Minister of State.
5. Paragraph seven pointed out that the Dhahran Airfield had been the subject of separate instructions (possibly telegrams 132 and 133, April 1, to Jidda, 890F.7962/3–2649; latter not printed, but see footnote 1, p. 1583), and has not specifically been brought within the scope of this telegram. “It does, however,” the paragraph further stated, “provide symbol of close cooperation which this Government desires to maintain and increase.”
6. Telegram 93, to Dhahran, not printed; but see footnote 1, p. 1584.
7. These requests are discussed in a memorandum of January 14 by the Assistant Chief, Division of Near Eastern Affairs, Richard H. Sanger, to the Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, Raymond A. Hare (711.90F/2–2749); not printed.
8. See text in Foreign Relations, 1948, vol. v, Part 2, p. 1709.
9. For documentation on the technical assistance program proposed by President Truman in his inaugural address, see vol. i, pp. 757 ff.
10. For documentation concerning this Agreement, see Foreign Relations, 1933, vol. ii, pp. 986 ff.
11. Not printed; it included the supplemental provisions to the 1933 Agreement proposed by the United States.
12. In reply to this aide-mémoire, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry indicated it was disturbed that the United States Government was hesistant in giving a frank reply to Saudi Arabian requests and it felt that the United States “either has no confidence in us or has not yet considered [the] great fundamental mutual interests involved.” Regarding the proposed treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation, it expressed eagerness to take every action which would lead to the strengthening and confirming of friendly relations between the two governments. However, although agreeing to publishing a statement to that effect, it considered the conditions stated by the United States prior to the announcement would put it in a difficult situation (telegram 272, April 14, from Jidda, 890F.7962/4–1449; not printed).