United States Interest in the Question of Military and Economic Assistance to Saudi Arabia; Renewal of United States Tenancy at the Dhahran Airfield; Interest of the United States in Negotiations Between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia Regarding the Buraimi Oasis Dispute; Visit of King Saud to the United States in February 19571
1. For previous documentation, see Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, vol. ix, Part 2, pp. 2409 ff.
254. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Saudi Arabia
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 786A.5–MSP/12–756. Secret. Drafted by Newsom and approved and signed by Dulles. Repeated to Dhahran, CINCUSAFE, and London.
255. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, January 25, 1957
Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Discussion: Lot 64 D 199. Secret. Drafted by Parsons.
258. Letter From the Secretary of Defense (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.56386A/1–2957. Top Secret.
259. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, January 30, 1957, 3 p.m.
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 833. Confidential. Prepared in the Department of State. No other drafting information is given on the source text.
260. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, January 30, 1957, 4 p.m.
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. Top Secret.
261. Memorandum of a Conversation, Blair House, Washington, January 31, 1957, 10:30 a.m.
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 833. Confidential. Drafted by Stoltzfus who was assigned to serve as an interpreter during the King’s visit.
262. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, February 1, 1957
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. No drafting information is given on the source text. It was presumably prepared in the Office of the President. The President’s appointment calendar for February 1 indicates no record of a meeting with Sandys. (Ibid., Record of “President’s Daily Appointments”)
263. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, February 1, 1957, 3:30 p.m.
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File. Confidential. Drafted by Stoltzfus. A copy is also ibid., Central Files, 786A.5–MSP/2–257.
264. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, February 2, 1957, 3 p.m.
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 833. Secret. Drafted by Sherwood and Stoltzfus. A copy is also ibid., Central File 786A.5–MSP/ 2–257.
265. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Gray) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Murphy)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 786A.11/2–457. Secret.
266. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, February 4, 1957
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.86A/2–457. Secret. Drafted by Gay.
268. Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Murphy) to the Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 833. Secret. Drafted by Lathram, Newsom, and Barnes and sent through S/S.
271. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, February 7, 1957, 3:30–7:30 p.m.
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.86A/2–1057. Confidential. Drafted by Stoltzfus on February 10.
272. Memorandum From the Secretary of State to the President
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.56386A/2–757. Secret. A draft of the Dulles memorandum attached to the source text contains the following additional paragraph:
“As you know, the Saudis have been insistent that the United States supply military equipment. They have refused Soviet offers. There is the possibility that if we decline, they will obtain Soviet arms via Egypt. They have given every indication of a firm determination to obtain arms.”
273. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, February 8, 1957, 10:30 a.m.
Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 833. Secret. Drafted by Stoltzfus. According to the President’s record of daily appointments, Eisenhower met with the King privately from 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. with only the King’s interpreter present. (Eisenhower Library, Record of President’s Daily Appointments) In a memorandum of his conversation with the President on February 8, Dulles noted that the President informed him that Saud had raised two points during their private talk. The first concerned the King’s fear that if the Israelis were ever granted rights in the Gulf of Aqaba, the United States should assure that they could not interfere with the flow of Muslim pilgrims. According to Dulles, the President informed the King that he could not conceive of the Israelis disrupting the movement of pilgrims. The second point focused on Saud’s desire to find someone in Saudi Arabia through whom he could communicate with Eisenhower on a “highly confidential basis.” (Ibid., Dulles Papers, Meetings with the President) According to a note, February 11, from Howe to Herter, copies of the memorandum of the President’s private talk with Saud had been sent to Rountree and Allen Dulles. (Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversations, Lot 64 D 199) For text of the Joint Communiqué issued by the White House on February 8, see Department of State Bulletin, February 25, 1957, pp. 308–309.
274. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, INR–NIE Files. Secret. According to a note on the cover sheet, the estimate was “Submitted by the Director of Central Intelligence. The following intelligence organizations participated in the preparation of this estimate: The Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and The Joint Staff.”
The Estimate was “Concurred in by the Intelligence Advisory Committee on 19 February 1957. Concurring were the Special Assistant, Intelligence, Department of State; the Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Department of the Army; the Director of Naval Intelligence; the Director of Intelligence, USAF; and the Deputy Director for Intelligence, The Joint Staff. The Atomic Energy Commission Representative to the IAC, and the Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, abstained, the subject being outside of their jurisdiction.” Also included in the National Intelligence Estimate were two maps. The first entitled “Arabian Peninsula”; the second, “Arabian Peninsula Petroleum Concessions, Oil Fields, and Installations—January 1957”.
276. Telegram From the Embassy in Saudi Arabia to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 120.1580/4–1157. Secret. Repeated to Tel Aviv, Cairo, Amman, and Paris.
277. Telegram From the Embassy in Saudi Arabia to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 120.1580/4–1157. Secret. Repeated to Addis Ababa, Cairo, Damascus, Paris, London, and Amman and passed to Khartoum.
On March 12, Ambassador James P. Richards, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and now Special Assistant to the President, left the United States for a 57-day mission to the Middle East. Richards visited 15 countries as part of an effort to explain the President’s January proposals on economic and military assistance to countries in the Middle Eastern area. On April 9 and 10, Richards visited Saudi Arabia.
278. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Saudi Arabia
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 986A.734/6–2457. Secret; Niact. Drafted by Newsom and approved by Rountree.
279. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Saudi Arabia
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 686.86a/7–957. Secret. Drafted by Newsom and approved by Rountree. Sent also to Dhahran and London.
280. Memorandum From the Secretary of State’s Deputy Special Assistant for Intelligence (Arneson) to the Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, INR Files: Lot 62 D 42, Near and Middle East. Secret. Drafted by Liebesny on July 16. In a note to Becker, July 17, attached to the source text, Arneson wrote:
“Herewith a copy of an IN we are sending to the Secretary this morning on the subject we discussed yesterday. Our people are also completing a fairly detailed examination of the attitudes of the various area states on the Aqaba dispute. This intelligence report is expected to be completed in a week or ten days and we will of course send you a copy as soon as it is ready.
“I am also sending a copy to Mr. Allen Dulles.”
281. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Saudi Arabia
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 783.00/8–2757. Top Secret; Priority; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Rockwell and approved by Dulles. Repeated to London.
282. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, August 29, 1957
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 886A.2553/8–2957. Official Use Only. Drafted by Sherwood on August 30.
283. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, September 23, 1957, 11:30 a.m.
Source: Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199. Secret. Drafted by Rountree on September 24. Crown Prince Faisal, brother of King Saud and the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, arrived in the United States on July 1 for medical treatment.