27. Telegram From the Embassy in Yugoslavia to the Department of State and the White House1
Fm Admiral Murphy. To Judge Clark for the President and Secretary Shultz. Subject: The Vice President’s Bilateral With Prime Minister M’zali of Tunisia.
The Vice President met with PriMin M’zali on September 15 for a discussion of bilateral issues. The meeting lasted approx. 30 minutes. The atmosphere was cordial. The following record was compiled from the interpreters notes.
The Vice President: I may be useful to make some observations on my private meetings with President Bendjedid2 and King Hassan.3 There are no secrets but we can talk alone and you may have some questions. We are determined to improve our relations with Algeria and I told President Bendjedid that that is what President Reagan wants. I found the Algerian President to be a very reasonable man. There were no polemics and little rhetoric. He is a reasonable man who wants us to do more with King Hassan regarding the Sahara. I told him anything we do with reference to Morocco should not be viewed as a threat against Algeria. Bendjedid asked about U.S. bases in Morocco and I explained the access and transit concept for the RDF (rapid deployment force). I made sure Algeria knows that this is not designed to threaten Algeria. There was another matter which came up. One of our officials had made a statement to the effect that Algeria is a satellite of the Soviet Union. I made clear to President Bendjedid that that is not the view of the USG and that it does not reflect the attitudes of the President, or the Vice President, for that matter. Concerning King Hassan’s talking to the Polisario, I told Bendjedid that that is a Moroccan decision.
I told the President that we support the referendum and think this is the right approach. In my talks with King Hassan and President Bendjedid both, whenever the referendum was mentioned it was cited in a very favorable light. Finally, I told Bendjedid that we wanted to cooperate. We are disgusted with Qadhafi and have no use for him but he is not ten feet tall. We do not trust him and consider him unstable. If there are any threats, we can exchange information and contribute [Page 53] to the security of Tunisia, we shall be glad to do it with you as we have offered to do it with other countries. Bendjedid replied you are making Qadhafi bigger than he is. The Vice President responded that if in the future you in Tunisia are concerned about the movement of Libyan forces or if there is any concern over a threat to Tunisia we will be glad to pass or share information with you concerning your security. Now we understand that Qadhafi comes to visit. He is a neighbor with whom you must deal. This will pose you no difficulties in the United States. However we do not trust him; we do not want a dialog with him as long as he subscribes to international terrorism. So if you want to have this information we will give it to you because we feel very strongly about Tunisia’s integrity and idependence. We will go the extra mile for you. But we will not involve you in any of our disputes. The Prime Minister expressed appreciation and interest in these proposals. He said that Tunisia has excellent relations with both Morocco and Algeria at present. Relations have been good with Morocco for many years. With Algeria they have been based on trust and brotherhood. There are a number of industrial and commercial projects. This is good for Tunisia because after Gafsa Tunisia felt caught in a pincer between Algeria and Libya. Bendjedid is indeed a moderate who wants to raise the standard of living of his people. He does not have the imperialistic vision of his predecessor, President Boumédiènne. However, Bendjedid needs time to wipe out the Boumedienne legacy. There are still militants in the party structure. He hoped, the Prime Minister said, that the United States might develop a privileged relationship with the three countries of the Maghreb on a basis of equality. On the Sahara, the Prime Minister said that he was in Morocco and talked to King Hassan, who was concerned. Next week he (the PM) will go to Algiers to talk with President Bendjedid and the Prime Minister. He is convinced that if these problems cannot be worked out there will be no peace, no confidence, no cooperation in the Maghreb. “We want the U.S. to exert as always its influence in favor of an honorable compromise”.
The Vice President responded that the U.S. would like to see that too, but that we cannot lean heavily on King Hassan by asking him to do something that is not in his interest. We asked what kind of a compromise does Tunisia envisage? Mzali responded that he had asked Hassan how far he could go, mentioning a formula like that used in the southern Sudan, i.e. a sort of confederation. King Hassan said that he wanted to bequeathe his son a Morocco of six or seven laender rpt laender, as in the FRG. “If I gave in to the Sahara then the people in the Rif which has been under Spanish domination would ask for the same thing”. National unity would crumble. However, said Mzali, the King did not rule a confederation out. In Tunisia, continued the Prime Minister, we will continue to try and hope that the solution will ripen. [Page 54] Like you, we cannot take any initiative which will arouse the two countries. Why don’t we stay in touch, said the Vice President, to see what kind of initiative develops that we can both support.
The Prime Minister then talked about U.S. assistance to Tunisia, economic and military, the “close” commission, etc. He referred to problems in Congress.4 He said that for FY83 “we’re ok” but he hoped that the administration would keep pushing its line with Congress to keep aid at a more substantial level for Tunisia. Tunisia is a country that has needs for equipment, at least for its army. With respect to economic aid, Tunisia apparently is no longer eligible but given the plan it will need to do a great deal to create jobs and raise the level of young people’s standard of living. Otherwise the young will listen to Libya and believe that Libya is some sort of a paradise. On Libya, we’d rather talk but we will remain vigilent. We’d rather talk than close the borders or create tension. We recall the Arab saying that you should have the Koran in one hand and a stone in the other. We do not lack stones. The PM gave a few words about Qadhafi’s visit. He met and talked with young party members and said “the U.S. is attacking you”. I (M’zali) said what about the Russians? And Qadhafi has changed on Maghreb unity. He used to say that it is an imperialist U.S. plot. Now he says that it must be built by changed policies. So we take note of his change of position and atttitude. If it persists so much the better. If it does not we shall not be surprised. The Prime Minister then raised at President Bourguiba’s request the possibility of setting up an American university in Tunis and replacing the flag ship of the Tunisian navy. “We were told that a World War Two vintage destroyer is available.” A 15 or 16 million dollar overhaul will be required. President Bourguiba would like to receive it in good working condition. The Vice President said he would have Admiral Murphy look into that when he gets back to his office.
- Source: George H. W. Bush Library, Vice Presidential Records, Vice Presidential Daily Files, OA/ID 20652. Secret; Eyes Only; Via Privacy Channel. Printed from a copy that indicates the original was received in the White House Situation Room.↩
- See Document 130 for Bush meeting with the Algerian Prime Minister.↩
- A record of the Bush-Hassan meeting is in Document 26.↩
- Not further identified.↩