Continued American supply of arms for Arab states was confirmed here today. The State Department said that Saudi Arabia will receive American military training equipment and construction “exceeding” $300 million over the “next five or six years.”
Meanwhile, the Moroccan government was reported also to be making intensive efforts to secure military support from the U.S. Foreign Minister Ahmed Taibi Behima paid “a courtesy call” on Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger this morning “at the request of the State Department.” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was informed at the Pentagon. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger met the Moroccan official yesterday in New York. The U.S. has long been a supplier of military aid to Jordan and Lebanon, some of which were gifts.
In-discussing the Saudi Arabia-U.S. military agreement signed yesterday in Riyadh by U.S. Ambassador James Akens and Prince Abdullah, head of the desert kingdom’s National Guard, the State Department specifically said Phantom jets were excluded from the program. Israel had protested against providing the Saudis with Phantoms because they would be used against Israel by the Saudis directly or made available to other Arab countries for use against Israel.
State Department spokesman John King said the purpose of the military program is to modernize Saudi Arabia’s National Guard which is responsible for internal security and the “physical security of the oil fields.”
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