Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Near and Middle East, Volume IX, Part 2

474.118/3–3152

No. 973
The Director for Mutual Security (Harriman) to the Secretary of State

top secret

Washington, March 31, 1952.

Dear Mr. Secretary: I refer to a memorandum of March 24, 1952, signed by Deputy Under Secretary Matthews,¹ with attachments,² in which the Department of State has joined with the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a joint recommendation to the Director for Mutual Security that Egypt be declared eligible for reimbursable aid, under the provisions of Section 408(e) of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949, as amended.

Section 408(e), above referred to, authorizes reimbursable aid to various categories of nations. One of these categories comprises a nation whose “ability to defend itself or to participate in the defense of the area of which it is a part, is important to the security of the United States”.

I agree with the conclusions reached by the Departments of State and Defense as to the advisability of providing assistance of the type indicated to Egypt, and under the authority delegated to me by Executive Order No. 10300, dated November 1, 1951, I hereby find and determine that Egypt is eligible to receive reimbursable military assistance under Section 408(e) of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, as amended.

I assume that the Department of State will proceed to obtain the necessary assurances from the Government of Egypt, as provided for in Section 408(e), and will consult with the Office of the Director for Mutual Security in the process of formulating any documents which are to be used for this purpose. I further request that this office be advised sufficiently in advance of the actual shipment of any equipment to Egypt so that appropriate letters can go forward to interested Congressional Committees.

I am sending an identical letter to the Secretary of Defense.

Sincerely,

W. Averell Harriman

1. Not printed.
2. There were three attachments. One, not printed, contained the latest revised list of equipment requirements for Egypt; the other two are printed: see Matthews’ letter of Feb. 23 to Secretary of Defense Lovett, Document 961, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Foster’s reply of Mar. 12, Document 969.