Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XVII, Part 3, North Africa

205. Memorandum From Secretary of State Vance to President Carter¹

Washington, January 30, 1980

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Tunisia.]

2. Tunisia. In response to Tunisian concerns that the Libyans might be ready to mount a commando attack by sea on a Tunisian port city, we are undertaking air and sea surveillance of the area. We do not have any intelligence which would confirm the Tunisian claims.

We informed both our Embassy in Tunis² and the Tunisian Ambassador in Washington³ this afternoon of our willingness to provide the 30 Armored Personnel Carriers and 6 UH 1N helicopters Tunisia has requested urgently to deal with possible future guerrilla attacks. The 30 APCs can be ready for air shipment in five to seven days and will cost $5 million. The six helicopters will cost $34 million, which will require a waiver of the 36 (b) notification requirement if Tunisia confirms it wants to go ahead immediately.

The Tunisian Ambassador was concerned about the costs of the helicopters, and wondered whether the equipment could be “leased” for some critical months.⁴

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Tunisia.]

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 22, Evening Reports (State): 1/80. Secret. Carter initialed the memorandum and wrote “Cy” in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Telegram 26809 to Tunis, January 31. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800053–0912)
3. Telegram 28210 to Tunis, February 1. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800057–0028)
4. In a January 31 memorandum to Carter, Vance wrote: “The problem now is the cost of the items requested which, Nouira feels, would strain Tunisia’s development plans. A Tunisian Army general will meet with DOD Friday for further discussions of prices, credit terms, possible leasing arrangements, and airlift possibilities. We are also planning to make our interest in Tunisia’s sovereignty clear to the Libyans and have offered to send a military survey team to Tunisia.” (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 22, Evening Reports (State): 1/80)