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1553054
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April 30, 1975 - Ford, Kissinger, Egyptian Parliamentary Group
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1553054
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document
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April 30, 1975 - Ford, Kissinger, Egyptian Parliamentary Group
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Memoranda of Conversations (Nixon and Ford Administrations)
Ford Administration Memoranda of Conversations
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1975-04-30
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1975
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1975-04-30
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1975
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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
CONFIDENTIAL
April 30, 1975
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
PARTICIPANTS:
His Excellency Ashraf Ghorbal
Egyptian Ambassador
His Excellency Amr Musa
Egyptian Foreign Minister's Office
The Honorable Zakari Loufty Gomaa
Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee
The Honorable Ramzi Stino
Vice Chairman, Industry and Power Committee
The Honorable Doctor Layla Taqla
Member, Education and Scientific Research
Committee
The Honorable Mustapha Kamel Murad
Chairman, Economic Committee
Mrs. Murad
The Honorable Abdul Latif abdul Rahman el-Husseiny
Chairman, The Committee for Transport
The Honorable Muhiebdin Abdul Salam Al-Shazli
Member, Transport and Communications
Committee
NSC MEMO, 11/04/08, STATE Review 3/8/04
The Honorable Mansour Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan
Member, Planning and Budget Committee
Mrs. Hassan
The Honorable Doctor Roushdi Said
Member, Local Government and People's
E.O. 12958, SEC.3.5
BY 5/14/04
Organization Committee
NARA, DATE
The Honorable Doctor Mohamed Safwat Mohie el-Din
Vice-Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee
DECLARBIFIED
Mr. Tahsin Bashir
Presidential Press Supervisor for President
Sadat
The Honorable Ahmad al-Denerdash Touni
Member, Foreign Relations Committee
Doctor Gamal Oteify
Deputy Speaker for the People's Assembly
and Head of the Delegation
Mrs. Oteify
FORD
&
CONFIDENTIAL
GERALD
LISHARY
TOP SECRET - XGDS (3)
CLASSIFIED BY: HENRY A. KISSINGER
File scanned from the National Security Adviser's Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CONFIDENTIAL
- 2 -
PARTICIPANTS:
President Gerald R. Ford
(Continued)
The Honorable Henry R. Kissinger
Secretary of State
Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft
Deputy Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs
Mr. Robert B. Oakley
National Security Council Staff
Mr. H. Freeman Matthews
Director of Egyptian Affairs - NEA
Department of State
TIME AND PLACE:
April 30, 1975 - 10:00 a. m.
The Cabinet Room
President:
Enters room with Secretary Kissinger, makes
circuit of table, shaking hands with each of Egyptians]
We will have a press photo session first; it will take
about one minute.
[To Dr. Oteify]: This is where the Secretary of State
sits at the meetings of the National Security Council.
You see he has been demoted.
[To Egyptian Delegation as a whole]: It is a great
pleasure for me to have you here. As an ex-parlia-
mentarian, I have a very special feeling for those who
work in the legislative branch. Your program is a
good one, coming to meet our Congress and travelling
around the country. Please give President Sadat my
thanks for his courtesy to our Congressmen and
Senators who have recently visited Egypt. I have
talked to many of them and they have all been very
favorably impressed. There is now a much better
understanding in Congress that all of us--the United
States, Israel and the Arabs--need to work hard
toward peace. I assure you this Administration will
accept no stagnation or stalemate. We must keep
the momentum of peace going. Meanwhile, we also
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
- 3 -
want to build better bridges between the U.S. and
Egypt. We are glad to again have diplomatic
relations and to have such a fine Ambassador as
Ambassador Ghorbal and we want to strengthen
relations between us, not just on a formal basis,
but on a constructive basis. We have been able
to get $250 million from Congress this year and
600, 000 tons of PL 480. These are concrete
indications of how we want to strengthen and broaden
relations with the Egyptian people and not only
President Sadat. The Egyptian and American people
have long had an understanding between them, even
in the difficult periods. I am delighted to have you
and your Ambassador here. Please take my personal
greetings to President Sadat. I hope to meet him
sometime in the near future, so we can work together
even more closely for peace in the Middle East.
Dr. Oteify:
I had planned to start my remarks with the usual
courtesies but after hearing your remarks about no
stagnation I am changing my own words. It was
very good to hear these words from the President
of the United States. You are a great President of
a great country. Your image in the Middle East is
one of a strong and wise statesman, a man of
principle. For several years of war and bad relations
between the U.S. and Egypt, we suffered. Now we
are trying to open a new page. We believe that under
your Administration we can achieve peace. You have
made a big effort. Your Secretary of State has been
several times to Egypt and the Middle East. Despite
the suspension-- we do not say failure of the recent
talks we are determined to continue the effort to
find peace for the area. There is an identity of
interest in peace for the U.S., Egypt, the Middle East
and the entire world. But the time factor is very
important. I am not asking for details but as your
reassessment continues I am sure you will take into
consideration the behavior of the parties during the
recent talks. It is very kind of you to take the time
to meet with us and I want to end my words by
presenting you this book on 1, 000 years of Cairo's
history. We hope some day you can see it yourself.
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
- 4 -
President:
Thank you for the beautiful book. I hope Mrs. Ford
and I can visit your city. The Secretary of State
has told me of your warm welcome and hospitality.
I also recall the very warm welcome you extended
to President Nixon.
Mrs. Taqla:
I want you to have this papyrus with your name on it
in hieroglyphics. There is also one for Mrs. Ford.
I am sorry to miss her.
President:
Thank you very much. She is on her way to New
York City today but she will be very grateful, and
very sorry to have missed you.
Mr. Touni:
I also want you to have a copy of my book on the
history of ancient Egypt.
President:
Thank you, I shall treasure it. Now, there is about
three minutes in which I would be glad to talk and
answer any questions you might have.
Dr. Mohie el-Din: We understand you are going to give Israel more arms.
We hope the amount will be limited.
President:
You can be sure we will analyze this thing very
carefully. No decisions have been made. We are
saying to everyone, hold off so we can work for
peace and not for war. So we will be very careful.
Kissinger:
This lady has two questions for you (referring to
Mrs. Taqla).
Mrs. Taqla:
I love the U. S. so much that I hope, for the best
interest of the US, that you will be running again.
President:
Despite the rumors you may hear, I definitely intend
to run. I have not filed my name officially since
once this happens, there are all sorts of restrictions
and regulations to follow. But you can be sure that
I will run again.
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
- 5 -
Mrs. Taqla:
My second question concerns aid. Is it possible
for Congress to vote aid on a contingency basis
so that it is not marked for a single country, but
can be spent at the discretion of the President?
President:
We have very little flexibility left today compared
to the past. In one or two instances we have some
slight flexibility and we can and will use that to
achieve certain objectives.
[Kissinger leaves the room. ]
Mr. Gomaa:
Do the people of the U.S. know the Arabs really
want peace?
President:
I believe there is a far greater understanding of
the Arab position than before. It is extremely
important for people like yourselves from other
Arab countries to visit the U.S. in order to eliminate
misunderstandings of the Arab people. The situation
is better, there is more understanding than two or
three years ago, but you cannot afford to rest on
what has been done thus far. Groups like yours and
the Arab Ambassadors will need to travel extensively
and work hard in the weeks ahead in this country.
Ambassador
Ghorbal:
I am glad you also mentioned the importance of
efforts by others. There is indeed much more
which needs to be done. We are only at the beginning.
The fact that so many members of your Congress have
gone to Egypt has made things better.
President:
I can assure you that is the case. Once you see a
country and meet its people and its leaders, your
impression is totally different. Let me thank you
again for myself and Mrs. Ford and Susan.
[President leaves Cabinet office at 10:30 a.m. ]
CONFIDENTIAL