Office of the Historian

302. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, October 4, 1967, 4:30 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • US Ban on Arms Shipments to Saudi Arabia; SAG Attitude on Chirep Issue

PARTICIPANTS

  • His Excellency Sayyid Omar Saqqaf, Deputy Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia
  • His Excellency Ibrahim al-Sowayel, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia
  • The Secretary
  • Mr. William D. Brewer, Country Director, Arabian Peninsula States

During a meeting with the Secretary on October 4, the Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister raised the question of the current suspension of American arms shipments to Saudi Arabia. Saqqaf noted that each time there is a serious problem in the Near East, there seems to be an attempt to influence policy through arms procurement matters. The Saudis were coming to feel that there was nothing on which they could depend. Since June 5, all shipments had been stopped, even spares and training. This had caused deep feeling among the officers of the Saudi Army on whom the Government must depend.

The Secretary explained that two separate issues had happened to coincide in June which made the problem particularly difficult. Both with respect to the Export-Import Bank and AID legislation, there had been a major revolt in the Senate on the question of arms. A severe struggle was now under way in the Senate-House Conference Committee. This development plus the events of last June had simply made it impossible for us to move on this question. The Secretary said that he hoped the problem would be resolved soon, and added that he would himself do his best to this end. He informed Saqqaf that there had been an opportunity to settle the matter on the basis of limiting arms shipments in the area to Israel alone but that the Administration had rejected this approach. The Secretary hoped that we would soon be in a position to move forward on matters involving purchases and export licenses. Saqqaf assured the Secretary that Saudi policies remained the same. There had been no change in their support for Western positions. He indicated that there had been considerable pressure on Saudi Arabia from other Arabs to recognize Communist China or at least not to vote against Chicom admission to the UN. The Saudis had, however, [Page 582] resolutely refused to change their attitude. The Secretary expressed appreciation for this manifestation of continued Saudi support.

  1. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967-69, DEF 7 SAUD. Secret. Drafted by Brewer on October 10 and approved in S on October 19. The memorandum is part 2 of 3. The time of the meeting is taken from Rusk’s Appointment Book. (Johnson Library)↩