361. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Whitehead to President Reagan1
[Omitted here is material unrelated to Tunisia.]
2. Tunisian Appeal. The Tunisian Ambassador asked Mike Armacost for our support for Tunisia’s appeal to the UN Security Council on the alleged Israeli murder of Abu Jihad and the violation of Tunisian territory.2 The Ambassador recalled the October 1985 Israeli attack on PLO headquarters; we abstained on the Security Council resolution. Saying that we have condemned this political assassination—prohibited in the U.S.—Mike asked the Tunisians to supply us with any evidence on this action that was available. The Tunisian Foreign Minister is on his way to New York to attend a Security Council session on this issue, which could take place as early as Wednesday morning. We will continue to urge the Tunisians to moderate their approach in the Council and to avoid a formal resolution.
[Omitted here is material unrelated to Tunisia.]
- Source: Reagan Library, George Shultz Papers, President’s Evening Reading. April–June 1988. Secret. Shultz was en route to Moscow to discuss preparations for the upcoming Reagan-Gorbachev summit scheduled for May 29–June 2.↩
- No other record of the Armacost-Ben Yahia discussion has been found. Khalil al-Wazir, also known as Abu Jihad (“father of struggle”), the PLO’s most senior military official, was assassinated in Tunis on April 16. (Alan Cowell, “P.L.O. Accuses Israel in Killing of Senior Arafat Deputy in Tunis,” New York Times, April 17, 1988, p. A1) In telegram 4354 from Tunis, April 22, the Embassy reported: “For the first time since Nov. 7, President Ben Ali is confronting serious domestic political criticism as a direct result of the killing of Abu Jihad April 16. Most embarrassed by the attack are GOT’s security forces where suspicions of U.S. complicity are widespread.” (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, [no D number])↩