113. Memorandum of Conversation1 2
SUBJECT:
- Meeting Between the President, Moroccan Prime Minister Laraki, Assistant Secretary of State Newsom, and Henry A. Kissinger
Prime Minister Laraki opened the conversation by saying that the King of Morocco had asked him to come to express his warm feeling for the United States. Laraki said, “The King had looked forward to his State Visit on April 22. We are very conscious of the efforts of the United States to ease relations in the Middle East. We are also conscious of the fact that my visit in June was followed by the Rogers plan. Morocco has used its influence to get the Rogers plan accepted. Since then Nasser has died. Many changes have occurred—Nasser’s death and various peace proposals. We have good relations with the UAR and they check everything with us. We have kept up the pressure to maintain the ceasefire but the present circumstances are very delicate. His Majesty has asked that there be an urgent convening of the Arab Summit. We want to bring the Arab World to realism. Our objective is to get more realism into the outlook of the Arabs. The planned meeting would coincide with the [Page 2] visit of His Majesty to the U.S. and it is obvious that his Majesty cannot absent himself from a Summit he himself has called.
Last week His Majesty received emissaries from Hussein and Boumediene. We are the only Arabs who are on good terms with all other Arabs. This has produced a series of dilemmas for the King. Either to come but not speak at the National Press Club and on Meet the Press, which is against his nature, or to have the public appearances and thereby jeopardize the Summit. We recognize that these trips are planned months ahead and therefore we have two proposals to make. One, we could turn the visit into a private one. His Majesty would arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. Or, we could postpone the visit. Above all, His Majesty wants it to be clear that nothing that is done will affect the bilateral relationship. His Majesty leaves the decision up to the President.”
The President said, “I agree completely with the role of Morocco. Morocco is the most stable and objective nation in the area. Secondly, we want to enhance His Majesty’s role and we will do whatever His Majesty wants. If he came on a private visit he need not make any public speeches. On the other hand, we want to give His Majesty the honor befitting his station and that would suggest that a dinner would be better than a lunch, so if he came on a private visit he should plan to stay overnight. But we would like to work it out, whichever is more convenient.”
Laraki said, “His Majesty has left me the discussion of turning it into a private visit or postponement. I believe that turning it [Page 3] into a private visit might appear to some that the best Arab friend of the U.S. was being treated in a cavalier way, and a certain sector of the press would exploit it. Therefore, let us postpone the visit until June or October. If by then there has been an Arab Summit we will brief you on it; if not, we will give you our view of the situation. It was noticeable that now the Arab Summit seemed much less imminent.” There was then some desultory conversation about possible dates, and the meeting ended.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1025, Presidential/HAK Memcons, Mem Con-The President, Prime Minister Laraki, April 15, 1971. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. The meeting took place in the Oval Office. The Department’s draft memorandum of the conversation is located in Ibid., RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 7 MOR.↩
- Prime Minister Laraki explained that King Hassan wished to postpone his visit to the United States in order to attend the upcoming Arab Summit.↩