172. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Rountree) to the Secretary of State1
SUBJECT
- Request for approval of language according qualified recognition to Libya’s Arab League obligations to be incorporated in proposed Military Assistance Agreement between the United States and Libya
Discussion:
On December 20, 1956 the Under Secretary granted Circular 175 authorization to negotiate a Military Assistance Agreement with the Government of Libya on the basis of a draft text incorporating the statutory Mutual Security, and other provisions customarily sought in bilateral agreements of this kind.
Early in the negotiations the Libyan Government requested the inclusion of language in the Agreement recognizing that nothing in it conflicted with Libya’s earlier obligations as a member of the Arab League. (Libya joined the original Pact of the League of Arab States of March 22, 1945, but is not a member of the later Joint Defense Treaty Between the States of the Arab League of June 17, 1950.)
Two factors motivated this request on the part of the Libyans: (1) their fear of, and hence desire to protect themselves against, political recriminations from the extremist wing of the Arab League, particularly from the neighboring Government of Egypt; and (2) the explicit recognition of its Arab League obligations which the Libyan Government had already obtained from the United States in the base rights agreement, covering Wheelus Field, among other facilities, which we concluded with Libya on September 9, 1954. Article XII of this Agreement reads, in pertinent part:
“Further, the two Governments declare that nothing in the present Agreement conflicts with or prejudices, or is intended to conflict with or to prejudice, international obligations assumed by either Government under any other existing international agreements, conventions or treaties, including, in the case of the United Kingdom of Libya, the Covenant of the League of Arab States.”
Recognizing the validity of these points, we endeavored to satisfy the Libyans’ request. Despite informal indications that all they wanted was pro forma recognition of their Arab League obligations, a protracted negotiation nevertheless ensued in an effort to [Page 488] find language which met Libya’s political needs but which, at the same time, did not override or conflict with the requirements of Mutual Security legislation which, in the absence of a Presidential determination, restricts the use of United States military assistance furnished to Near Eastern and African countries to legitimate self-defense.2 Article VI of the March 22, 1945 Pact of the League of Arab States, on the other hand, contemplates possible collective military action in the case of conflicts between members of the League.
The following compromise language, acceptable to the Department’s Legal Adviser and to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, was eventually agreed upon:
“This Agreement shall not be interpreted as conflicting in any way with the obligations of the two Governments under the Charter of the United Nations, or as limiting action on the part of the Government of the United Kingdom of Libya in the legitimate self-defense of its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity consistent with the terms of the Pact of the League of Arab States of March 22, 1945.”3
(In respect to the underlined4 words “consistent with” in the last clause, this language is slightly at variance with the version approved by the Libyan Council of Ministers on May 16, which contains the words “as required by.” No serious difficulty, however, is anticipated in obtaining Libyan concurrence in this minor change which the Department’s Legal Adviser considers desirable).
Our Ambassador in Tripoli has now requested final authority to accept the incorporation of this language as a new article in the Agreement, and formally to sign the Agreement.
Because of the foreign policy and domestic political implications of such formal recognition, however circumscribed, in an international agreement, of the obligations of Libya’s Arab League membership, I would welcome your specific approval of the inclusion of this language.
There is a precedent for United States’ refusal to entertain such a proposal. In 1954 the Government of Iraq requested similar recognition of its Arab League membership in a military assistance agreement then under negotiation with the United States. We declined to do so, however, on foreign and domestic policy grounds; and the agreement was ultimately concluded (April 21, 1954), following [Page 489] Iraq’s adherence to the Baghdad Pact, without any such reference.
It has also been noted that the recently signed agreement for the sale of United States military equipment to Saudi Arabia (April 2, 1957) makes no mention of this country’s Arab League obligations; but I do not believe that this is relevant to the Libyan case in point. Saudi Arabia did not request such recognition, and the agreement was made pursuant to the conditions of Section 106 of the Mutual Security Act, which are less rigorous with respect to the transfer of arms than the sections governing grant assistance. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s position in relation to the Arab League is far stronger than that of Libya.
Although it is unlikely that the Libyan Government would ultimately refuse to sign an agreement with the United States from which it stands only to gain, should we decline to accept any mention of Libya’s Arab League relationship at this late stage in a negotiation which has been limited almost solely to this specific issue it would place our Ambassador in a very difficult position, with consequent effect on our relations with the new Libyan Government which is in the process of being formed and which we hope will be as cooperative and pro-Western as was the government under Ben Halim.
Recommendation:
Unless you perceive serious objections on foreign policy and domestic political grounds, that you approve the attached telegram to Tripoli5 authorizing the inclusion of the proposed language, which is acceptable from the legal viewpoint, in the Military Assistance Agreement with Libya, and the signature of that Agreement.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 773.5–MSP/5–2657. Confidential. Drafted by McClelland.↩
- Reference is to Section 105(b)(2) of the Mutual Security Act of 1954, as amended.↩
- This was the language incorporated in Article III of the MAAG Agreement signed June 30, 1957. (8 UST 957; TIAS 3857)↩
- Printed here in italics.↩
- Telegram 831 to Tripoli, May 29, conveyed the suggested instructions. (Department of State, Central Files, 773.5–MSP/5–1357)↩