1977 document declassified: Riyadh earmarked $300m for Somalia to cut ties with Moscow


Issue 1027 - 01 Dec 2016 | 1 minute read

Saudi Arabia was prepared to pay $300m (equivalent to around $1.2bn today) to the Somali government in 1977 if it cut its ties to the Soviet Union, according to United States government documents released on 18 November. In an undated memo sent to Vice President Walter Mondale by Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser wrote: “The Saudis have been talking to us about what they might do, and we believe they may have offered the Somalis up to $300,000,000 to break with the Soviets.” The source was a telegram from Jeddah sent in February 1977 by US ambassador William Porter, following a discussion with deputy foreign minister Abdelrahman Al-Mansouri.

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