Office of the Historian

207. Memorandum for the President’s Files by his Assistant to the President and Press Secretary (Ziegler)1 2

Washington, March 6, 1973

SUBJECT:

  • Department of State Luncheon with Secretary William P. Rogers and State Department Officials, Tuesday, March 6, 1973 at 12:50 p.m.

Armin Meyer, who is head of the Cabinet Committee on Terrorism which was established in 1972, reported on the meetings of the Cabinet Committee. President Nixon asked Meyer whether the UN Ambassador participates. The President said he thinks the UN Ambassador should participate and then proceeded to talk about the problems of protection at the UN. He said the Sudanese Ambassador feels that their Embassy needs protection if they are to take a firm line on the recent events, and the President said he felt that if anything should happen at an Embassy here it would be extremely serious. He said that the Executive Protection Service is limited to 875 but that he asked the Committee to provide information on how to increase protection for embassies here. There were reports from Meyer on the activities of the Cabinet Committee and the contingency plans for incidents involving diplomats abroad. It was mentioned that it was important to cut the reward to zero and to provide armored cars if necessary.

Macomber said that the position the President took in the recent Sudanese event was the only one to take and that under no circumstances should we pay ransom. The President said if we come to a hard place again, the individual will know what we will do—the terrorists must know we have a hard line and will provide no reward.

It was agreed that the penalty was a matter for the Sudanese Government but that at we feel justice should be served and that the terrorists should be dealt with firmly.

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Terrorism policy.]

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, President’s Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 91, Beginning March 4 (1973). No classification marking.↩
  2. Nixon discussed the Sudan incident and other issues related to terrorism policy with Department of State officials.↩