Office of the Historian

317. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, October 1, 1966.

SUBJECT

  • Call of Ethiopian Foreign Minister on Assistant Secretary Palmer

PARTICIPANTS

  • H.E. Ketema Yifru, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • H.E. Tashoma Haile-Mariam, Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S.
  • Mr. Ayalew Mandefro, Private Secretary of Foreign Minister
  • Mr. Joseph Palmer 2nd, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs
  • Mr. Matthew J. Looram, Country Director, Northeast African Affairs
  • Mr. John A. Buche, Acting OIC, Ethiopian Affairs
[Page 547]

Foreign Minister Ketema Yifru said he had come to Washington at the behest of the Emperor in order to clarify the situation concerning the Emperor’s request to see the President. The Foreign Minister said the Emperor was deeply concerned over Ethiopia’s security and desired to speak to the President as soon as possible, preferably before he went to Moscow (toward the end of October after visiting Cairo). Ketema offered two possibilities on the timing, either before October 7 when HIM leaves on his Middle Eastern trip or November 9–13 between the OAU summit and the arrival of the Czech President.

Assistant Secretary Palmer explained how crowded the President’s schedule was in the immediate weeks ahead but assured the Foreign Minister that the Emperor’s request was being given the highest consideration and an answer should be forthcoming the first part of the week.

Ketema stated there appears to be a basic misunderstanding between the United States and Ethiopia concerning Ethiopia’s security needs. Ethiopia could not accept parity with Somalia which the MAAG mission seemed to be urging on the IEG. He stressed that Ethiopia’s internal security problems and external threats, not only from Somalia but from other Moslem powers, made it imperative that Ethiopia have a stronger security force. He said Ethiopia reckons its needs at 48,000 men and the US insists that 36,000 are sufficient. He said the Somalis were already superior to Ethiopia in tanks, APC’s, artillery and antiaircraft weapons and that the Somali soldiers are armed with automatic weapons in comparison with the M–1’s of the Ethiopians. In addition the USSR was giving Somalia a year’s supply of POL—which some Ethiopians regarded as evidence of offensive intentions on the part of the Somalis.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, DEF 19–8 US–ETH. Secret. Drafted by Buche on October 4.↩