156. Letter From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Bundy) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Johnson)0
Dear Alex: With respect to your letter of October 11, 1963,1 we have taken the steps necessary to assure that those basic utilities at Sidi Slimane and Ben Guerir that are needed to permit the constructive use of these bases by the Government of Morocco will be left in usable condition. You will note from the enclosed memorandum from the Air Force2 that it will require reimbursement in the sum of $202,000 for those utilities that are not excess to Air Force needs.
We understand that our government is committed to leave these basic utilities in place without charge to the Moroccan Government. To this end, we will make arrangements to reimburse the Air Force from MAP funds for the non-excess utilities at the two bases if these facilities are to be used by the Moroccan Government for military purposes. However, there are no funds available to the Defense Department to reimburse the Air Force if the Moroccan Government intends to use these bases for economic development purposes, and in these cases we must look to AID to provide the necessary funds. We hope that the Moroccan Government can be urged to make an early decision on the utilization of the two bases.
Sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, DEF 15 MOR-US. Confidential.↩
- The letter from Johnson to Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs NITZE referred to the undertaking, made by the President to King Hassan in March, to turn U.S. SAC bases over to Morocco in operable condition. It asked NITZE for his assist-ance in meeting problems related to leaving the bases at Sidi Slimane and Ben Guerir with their basic utilities functioning, including an itemized list of the non-excess material required to meet the U.S. commitment. (Ibid., DEF 15-10 MOR-US)↩
- Attached but not printed.↩