Office of the Historian

146. Memorandum of Conversation1 2

Washington, September 24, 1975, 2–2:15 p.m.

PARTICIPANTS:

  • President Ford
  • Ambassador Abdullahi Ahmed Addou, Somalia
  • Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

The President: I appreciate your message after the incident in San Francisco.

Addou: We are praying for your safety. You are very important for your country and the world and we hope this will not reoccur. We are all in the hands of the Almighty and will live so long as he wills.

The President: How is your President?

Addou: He is well and has the best memories of his visit with you. He wants to the maximum extent to have the closest relations with the United States. We have had close relations with the United States going back to our struggle for independence, which you supported.

We have no reason to be anything but grateful to you. We had a misunderstanding which was ended with the visit of President Siad to you. We are fiercely jealous of our independence and will not jeopardize it for anyone.

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The President: I am glad to hear that. We have supported your independence. It is in our interest to have a strong self-reliant Somalia and we will continue to support your independence. We were pleased to help in the drought and are reviewing proposals to be of economic assistance to you.

Addou: We are very grateful for your help for the worst drought in Somali history. We have had a difficult time and we appreciate your aid—also with your plans for economic aid.

The President: Does the drought last more than a year?

Addou: It is cyclical, but this one has been longer and deeper. 20,000 have died. We are moving 250,000 into agricultural areas where they can be self-supporting. We hope for support in this from friendly nations.

I have here a letter from President Siad which I have the honor to present to you.

The President: Please convey my best wishes to the President.

  1. Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Memoranda of Conversations, Box 15, Ford Administration. Confidential; Nodis. The meeting took place in the Oval Office of the White House. The incident in San Francisco was a failed assassination attempt on President Ford.↩
  2. President Ford and Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs Scowcroft met with Somali Ambassador Addou and briefly discussed their two countries relations.↩