Office of the Historian

266. Telegram From the Embassy in Morocco to the Department of State1

1745.
Rabat, February 19, 1987, 1822Z

Dept pass White House and SecDef. For the Secretary and NEA Asst Secy Murphy from Ambassador. SecDef for Weinberger from Ambassador. White House for NSC from Ambassador. Subject: Renewed Offer for U.S. Air Base in Morocco.

1.
(S—Entire text).
2.
In a meeting with the Foreign Minister to discuss U.S. representation for the Fête du Trone.2 I advised that Treasury Secretary Baker would be head of delegation. After explaining arrival and departure dates. I asked the Foreign Minister to give us some idea of what plans the King has for the delegation. He advised that he would speak with the King and try and give us a notional schedule.
3.
He then asked me how our negotiations with the Spanish were going and why it was important to keep the 401st in Madrid.3 I explained that there had been hard bargaining and an insistence by the Spanish that the U.S. presence be reduced due to the commitments made by Gonzales in the NATO referendum.4 Filali then asked why we didn’t just move the base to Morocco. He reiterated conversation between Hassan and Defense Secretary Weinberger.5 I asked the Minister whether King Hassan was prepared to make a firm commitment to basing the 401st in Morocco subject to negotiations should a decision be made to leave Spain and come to Morocco. His answer was a firm yes. I explained that our obvious strong preference was to keep the 401st in Madrid and that if that was not possible we would consider other locations in Europe and elsewhere, including the possible return to the U.S.
4.
I mentioned Ambassador Bargach’s discussions with DOD6 as a follow-up to Hassan’s statement to Secretary Weinberger that Morocco was interested in an oil barter deal for F–16’s. He told me he knew of no present Arab source of funding.
5.
The Minister mentioned that he understood President Reagan would be visiting Italy in May or June for a State visit. I told him that I understood that it was in connection with the economic summit.7 While he did not press me further, the implication was that it may be a good time for the President to pass through Morocco for a brief stop. I did not, however, suggest that possibility.
6.
Filali remarked that the invitation to the King for a visit in 1987 had not yet been extended. I explained that we were considering a convenient date and remarked that this summer was a possibility. I told the Foreign Minister that since Hassan would be going to London July 14–17 it might make sense for him to thereafter go to Washington in time to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary.8 I also explained that I did not have an indication that those dates were open for an official working visit but if he thought that was a good idea I would pursue it. The Foreign Minister wholeheartedly supported that suggestion and said he would feel out Hassan on the question.
7.
Comment: It appears clear that Hassan’s offer to Weinberger on basing in Morocco was not made lightly. The Moroccans see many advantages inuring to their benefit by both the offer of a base in Morocco and the possible acceptance of that offer by the United States.
It is also clear that the Moroccans are becoming somewhat sensitive that in the year of the bicentennial the USG has neither extended the invitation to the King nor offered a major celebration of that anniversary in the U.S. I strongly urge that Secretary Baker have in hand an invitation from the President to make an official working visit the week of July 20, 1987. I also urge that if there are any new programs or additional aid contemplated for Morocco, that the Secretary announce them during his visit.

End comment.

Nassif
  1. Source: Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S Records, 1987 Nodis Telegrams: Lot 95D26, Rabat 1987 Nodis. Secret; Nodis.↩
  2. Reference is to Morocco’s Feast of the Throne, which celebrates the day of the enthronement of the King in 1933 in defiance of French colonial rule. During King Hassan’s reign (1969–1999), the Fête occurred on March 3.↩
  3. In telegram 1514 from Madrid, February 5, the Embassy summarized the most recent round of negotiations between the United States and Spain over basing and military aid, which took place in Madrid February 3–4. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D870425–0247, D870090–0295) Documentation is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. VIII, Western Europe, 1985–1988.↩
  4. Reference is to the national referendum held on March 13, 1986, on whether or not Spain should remain in NATO. Spanish citizens voted to remain in NATO.↩
  5. See Tab A, Document 265.↩
  6. No record of these discussions has been found.↩
  7. Reference is to the 1987 G–7summit scheduled to take place in Venice in early June.↩
  8. Reference is to the ceremony marking the bicentennial of the U.S.-Moroccan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.↩