313. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy0
Yemen. You should be aware that we are quietly promoting secret UAR/Saudi talks on Yemen, in hopes of working out a political solution. Our theory is that while they’re talking they’ll at least be less inclined to start shooting. We also want to start both sides thinking about some compromise which can cap the disengagement process.
UAR has agreed, but Faysal has qualified his acceptance by insisting on some prior UAR gesture, i.e. stopping radio slander. We’re trying to bring Faysal around.
Meanwhile, both Saudis (gun-running) and UAR (one-plane raid on border village—casualties one camel) have been caught violating, though actual facts generally turn out less damning than early intelligence reports. Also, despite this leaking at edges, UN buffer is working; UAR is slowly pulling out and Saudi flow of arms is down to a trickle. Our problem is to keep it under control a while longer, so we’re going back at both Saudis and UAR.
- Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Yemen, 8/63. Secret. A handwritten note on the source text reads: “(Taken from Pres. week-end reading dtd 8/16–18. Tab B-3).”↩