◆ SpookStack

! ee enn See een eteiee tee agregar ttt porting Afghan Muslims on the annual pilgrim- age—Hadj—to Mecca. Attending the dedication at which Mr. Hakimi cut the ribbon were Mohammed Hashim Mai- wandwal, Afghan Ambassador to the United States; Stellan Wollmar, Director of the ICA Mission in Afghanistan, who is now on consulta- tion in this country; and representatives of Pan American World Airways, which is assisting Afghanistan in civil aviation development under an ICA contract. The plane is the fifth to be acquired by Ariana with the assistance of a $5 million loan from ICA “to the Government of Afghanistan to help Ariana obtain equipment. The other planes were three DC-3’s and a DC-4. The loan was part of a $14,560,000 U.S. pro- gram of development assistance begun in 1956 to help landlocked Afghanistan to develop civil aviation. In addition to assisting Ariana to ac- quire equipment, the program has aided Afghan- istan in constructing an international airport at Kandahar and three local airports in other parts of Afghanistan, and in establishing air routes. Views on Freedom-of-Navigation Amendment to Mutual Security Act Following the adoption by the Senate on April £8 of an amendment to section 2 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954, as amended} proposed by Senator Paul Douglas and 17 other Senators, Acting Secretary Dillon sent the following letter to Senator J. W. Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. May 2, 1960 Dear Mr. Cuarmmman: In response to your re- quest for the views of the Department of State with respect to the implications of the Douglas Amendment to the Mutual Security bill, I take this opportunity to set forth the following per- tinent observations. As we understand the intent of its 18 sponsors, the Douglas Amendment is designed to support efforts toward eliminating trade restrictions in the Middle East, particularly with respect to ~~ those practiced-against the-State of Israel. Iam. _ sure you ere aware that this purpose is fully consistent with long-standing objectives of the 832 United States Government. It is our conviction | however, that the inclusion of this Amendment in -current Mutual Security legislation will in fact be © _ counter-productive and will not achieve its in- - tended purpose. In addition, such inclusion will in our view have harmful repercussions on United States interests in a wide area of the Middle East. As you know, # resolution similar to the Douglas --Amendment was passed in the House of Repre- sentatives at an earlier date. Fully sympathetic with the objective intended, the Department made the text available to our Embassies and Consvu- lates in countries which would be affected by the amendment. In a unanimous expression of opinion our field posts from Morocco to Iraq reported that the adoption of an amendment of this type would clearly not be in the interest of the United States, nor for that matter of Israel. Our posts abroad emphasized their concurrence with the objective sought by this amendment. They also stressed, however, that regardless of the effect which the amendment might have on the actual level of our assistance to the Middle Eastern states, the amendment would be widely. interpreted as: a) demonstrating favoritism for the State of Israel—to the extent that it would render more difficult our efforts to bring about a relaxation of tensions between Israel and the Arab states; and b) an attempt to “tie strings” to our economic aid, and, by implication, to threaten the use of aid as an instrument of political ‘The Douglas amendment, adopted by a vote of 45 to 25, reads as follows: . “(f) It.is the sense of the Congress that inasmuch as— “(1) the United States favors freedom of navigation in international waterways and economic cooperation between nations; and . “(2) the purposes of this Act are negated and the peace of the world is endangered when nations which receive assistance under this Act wage economic warfare against other nations assisted under this Act, including such procedures as boycotts, blockades, and the re striction of the use of international waterways ; assistance under this Act and the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended, shall be administered to give effect to these principles, - and, in all negotiations between the United States and any foreign state arising as a result of funds eppro- priated onder this Act or arising under the Agricultural Trade Development, and Assistance Act .of 1954, as “amended, these principles.shall._be applied, asthe President = may determine, and he shall report on measures taken by the administration to insure their application.” Department of Stafe Bulletin SPAHR RDA LEY Lie Su OWE RE Te SGart. Chott nee OAR Orage