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  4. Document 127

127. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, July 30, 1979, 2:30–3:20 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Summary of the President’s Meeting with UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, July 30, 1979

PARTICIPANTS

  • President Jimmy Carter
  • Vice President Walter F. Mondale
  • Warren Christopher, Deputy Secretary of State
  • Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
  • Ambassador Andrew Young, Permanent US Representative to the United Nations
  • Charles William Maynes, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
  • Dr. Lincoln P. Bloomfield, NSC Staff
  • Jerrold Schecter, NSC Associate Press Secretary
  • Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim
  • William Buffum, Under Secretary General for Political Affairs
  • Albert Rohan, Director, Executive Office of the Secretary-General

[Omitted here is discussion unrelated to Namibia.]

Namibia. Waldheim sees some limited progress, even though it is not “highly visible”. His recent conversations with Neto in Luanda2 persuade him that Angola is interested in a continuing negotiating process, as are Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania. He feels that sanctions on South Africans are not appropriate at this time in the light of two developments: first, Neto’s acceptance of liaison arrangements between Angola, Zambia, and Botswana and the prospective UN force (UNTAG); second, the improved chances for a 100-kilometer demilitarized buffer zone to be controlled by UNTAG on the Angolan side with Angolan patrols, and in the South by UNTAG with South African patrols. He felt that this provided a good chance of solving the problem of monitoring SWAPO forces now being harbored in neighboring countries. Neither SWAPO nor South Africa has yet responded, and Waldheim hopes the Front-Line states will pressure Sam Njomo, while [Page 359] Ambassador Murray on his trip tries to influence the SAG on behalf of the Western Five. (C)

The President wondered aloud if the two sides in this dispute really want a settlement, to which Waldheim’s reply was that in his view much depends on how the Rhodesian situation turns out. (C)

[Omitted here is discussion unrelated to Namibia.]

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, Box 51, UN: 1979. Confidential. The meeting took place in the White House Cabinet Room.↩
  2. In telegram 3041 from USUN, July 18, the Mission transmitted a report from the British Ambassador to Angola on Waldheim’s discussions with Neto. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790323–1056)↩