Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXIV, North Africa

272. Telegram From the Embassy in Morocco to the Department of State¹

12466.

Rabat, December 23, 1987, 1740Z

Military addressee treat as Specat Exclusive. Subject: Ambassador’s Talks With FonMin Filali.

1. (Secret—Entire text)

2. Begin summary: In Dec. 22 call, Filali expressed positive interest in discussions on US military activities; explained that the King had not gone to Antibes because it would contrast with his absence at Amman;² said that Saudis and UAE would soon be visiting Morocco to discuss financing for F–16s; noted that the Algerians had been very disappointing in bilateral talks in Rabat; and stressed importance of King’s call for meeting of Al Quds Committee Foreign Ministers to discuss violence in West Bank and Gaza. Comment in para 13 below. End summary.

3. On December 22, I requested a meeting with FonMin Filali to brief him on my meeting with King Hassan and the Joint Military Commission meetings in Washington. Also to debrief him on the Franco-African summit and the Joint Commission Meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Joint JMC and King’s Visit to the United States

4. I told the Foreign Minister that the JMC had gone very well in Washington³ with both sides able to discuss the outstanding problems in a very positive atmosphere. I explained that I had spoken with King Hassan after my meeting with the Foreign Minister and before my departure for Washington.⁴ I had then taken both the King’s and FonMin’s messages to Washington where I shared them with the appropriate USG officials.⁵ I also told the FonMin that I was in the process of sending a message to Washington⁶ suggesting a next step in the baseline study and a suggested format for financing future US-Moroccan military cooperation. He was very positive in his response saying that it would signal a new change in US thinking should we be able to look at long-term strategic military planning together with funding for Morocco.

Franco-African Summit

5. I explained Washington’s and the Embassy’s surprise at the King’s failure to attend the Franco-African summit after having cancelled Secretary Shultz’ visit.⁷ The Foreign Minister explained that King Hassan did not go to France because of the inevitable criticism he would have received from the Arabs since he had not gone to the Amman summit. He expressed his hope that a visit by the Secretary could still take place at the next earliest opportunity.

6. The meeting with the Africans in France had gone very well and was necessary because Morocco does not belong to the OAU and has few opportunities to speak with African leaders. The fact that the next summit will be held in Morocco he considered to be a very good sign and a positive step in the Moroccan-African relationship.

Morocco-Saudi Joint Commission Meeting

7. I asked the Foreign Minister whether the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from Saudi Arabia and replacement by Moroccan troops had been discussed in Riyadh. He told me that the Pakistani question had been discussed but that the Saudi’s were not yet prepared to discuss Moroccan troop presence in the Gulf. There will be a GCC meeting soon in the Gulf to discuss Gulf states military cooperation. He did, however, add that Morocco was prepared to send troops to Saudi Arabia should they be requested.

8. I then asked whether funding for an F–16 purchase had been discussed. His response was negative but he added that both Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Shiek Zaid of the UAE would be coming to Morocco in January and financing the F–16s would be taken up at that time.

Algeria and the Maghreb

9. Although the Foreign Minister was absent for the talks with the Algerians, I wanted to know if he was still as optimistic about moving forward on the bilateral side as he had been before his departure for Europe and the Gulf. He responded that the Algerians again were acting strangely. They now say that the Western Saharan problem must be resolved before bilateral issues can be addressed. They took notes on Morocco’s positions on the bilateral problems concerning trade and open borders but gave no responses. They do however want to continue the talks. The Foreign Minister offered that it would be up to Algerian FonMin Ibrahimi to suggest a date for a follow-on ministerial meeting.⁸

10. I asked Morocco’s view of the recent Algerian activity vis-a-vis Libya and Tunisia. Filali’s position was that Algeria again appeared to be attempting to isolate Morocco. Tunisia would probably reestablish diplomatic relations with Libya before the end of the year and he understood that Libya would much prefer a bilateral union to adhesion to the Treaty of Friendship between Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania. He added that Qadhafi had recently given a major address in which he referred to Algeria and in unusually glowing terms. I then asked about the Moroccan-Libyan relationship which he responded was good, especially on the economic side. He had been checking with Casablanca businessmen and found that TBC Libyans are now paying their bills.

11. In response to my question about the future of a United Maghreb, Filali posited that Morocco was looking more to Europe and the United States because it unfortunately could not look to its Maghreb brothers, especially Algeria for support. There were too many problems outstanding between them. I asked about whether the Western Sahara could be resolved in a Maghreb context as had been suggested in Algiers at the bilateral, and he mentioned the discussions between King Hassan and Prime Minister Baccouche of Tunisia. He said it was the first time there had been a Moroccan-Tunisian discussion on resolving the Western Sahara. He didn’t quite understand, however, Tunisia’s apparent willingness to accept Libya into the treaty of friendship.

Al Quds Committee

12. Concerning King Hassan’s call for an Al Quds Committee meeting in Morocco, Filali said the King felt it was an extremely important item that needed to be discussed in an Arab context. When I suggested that it also would be a positive step toward Moroccan reentry into the Arab fold and the first such meeting since the Ifrane summit between former Prime Minister Peres and King Hassan, Filali readily agreed. He said that Shamir was incredibly hard lined on the problem in the occupied territories, but Peres and his people are still taking a positive line. Morocco looks to the United States to help move the Israelis on this question. The Israelis have been incredibly insensitive and in his opinion creating a very volatile situation throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

13. Comment: This was the first time a high level Moroccan ever indicated that discussions with Gulf states were about to take place on the question of financing F–16s. Although we had been told Gulf financing would be forthcoming for many years, this was a new step. On the question of Moroccan-Algerian relations, Filali was considerably less optimistic than he had been at my last meeting. He again attributed this change to the split within the FLN and the difficulty of getting a united position on such an issue in a one party system. He did appear to hold out hope that at a higher level progress could still be made. It was also clear from Filali’s response to my explanation of next steps in the baseline process that Morocco was anxious to enter into serious long-term strategic discussions and is desperate to find a way to increase U.S. dependence upon and therefore increase U.S. assistance for Morocco.

Nassif

1. Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D871049–0414. Secret; Immediate; Exdis; Specat. Sent for information to Algiers, Riyadh, Tunis, Tel Aviv, Nouakchott, and USCINCEUR. Repeated to the NSC as telegram 399068, December 24. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D871053–0353)
2. References are to, respectively, the 14th Franco-Africa summit, which took place in Antibes December 10–11, and the Arab League summit, which took place in Amman November 8–9.
3. No record of the JMC meeting has been found.
4. In telegram 11477 from Rabat, November 29, Nassif noted that during a “relaxed” November 28 discussion, Hassan in part “underscored Moroccan desire for a broad political review of the long-range strategic situation and the place of US-Moroccan relations in that picture” and “reiterated his willingness to undertake a State visit to Washington in 1988, noting this could be in January, February, the end of March, or April.” (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D870978–0184)
5. In telegram 11420 from Rabat, November 25, Nassif reported that during their November 25 meeting, Filali “stressed GOM interest in major long term military relationship with U.S., their lack of interest in relatively minor activities such as low level flights and bombing ranges,” and expressed “great disappointment at levels of U.S. assistance.” (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D870974–0142)
6. Not found and not further identified.
7. No record of the cancellation of a Shultz visit to Morocco, which Filali had suggested during his October 1 meeting with the Secretary (see Document 271) has been found.
8. Reference is to the December 20 Algiers summit of Foreign Ministers from Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania, during which Algeria pressured Tunisia to allow Libya to join the Tripartite Union. See footnote 3, Document 85.