90. Letter From President Johnson to President Nasser1
Dear Mr. President:
I was most grateful for your letter of July 26, 1964,2 which Ambassador Kamel delivered to me personally. I place high value on our correspondence and anticipate that it will continue to yield useful results in the future.
[Page 206]It is most gratifying to have your personal assurance that the United Arab Republic does not intend to devote its efforts or resources to acquiring weapons of total destruction. Your interest in advancing the well-being of your people and the peace of the world is attested by your statement that the United Arab Republic has no thought of introducing the danger of nuclear conflict into the region of which it is a part.
I believe this expression of your views constitutes another significant step in the continuing quest for means of curtailing the nuclear arms race and ensuring the peaceful use of nuclear energy. I am also encouraged by your statements to Assistant Secretary Talbot and Ambassador Badeau that you are continuing to give thought to the value of international safeguards in looking ahead to the time when the United Arab Republic may build a nuclear power reactor.
Again, let me thank you for your assurances. They give me increased hope that mankind is turning away from the ever-spiraling arms race and toward ever greater reliance on peaceful solutions.
Sincerely,
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Special Head of State Correspondence File, United Arab Republic, Nasser Correspondence, Vol. I. No classification marking. Drafted by the President, the Department of State, and Komer. The text was transmitted to Cairo in telegram 914, August 17, which stated that the Embassy should not deliver it pending instructions. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 15–1 US/JOHNSON)↩
- See Document 86.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears these initials, not in the President’s handwriting.↩