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At the same time, Malin continued, the Ethiopian government
displays an interest in continuing to receive various forms of
assistance from the
USA
, especially military assistance, and
frequently talks about the timetable for the delivery of military
supplies and so forth. Prior to the change of regime in
Ethiopia
,
American military assistance was at an annual level of 10-12 million
American dollars and was administered preferentially on an
uncompensated basis (deliveries of arms, ammunition, spare parts,
etc.). In recent years, owing to the new policy of the
USA
in the
area of military cooperation with foreign governments, American
military assistance to
Ethiopia
has been granted preferentially on
commercial terms, and it includes several types of more advanced
armaments, in connection with which the value of the assistance has
grown. Thus, the signing of a multi-year contract in 1975 envisions
the supply of armaments, spare parts and ammunition in the
approximate sum of 250 million American dollars. Already in 1976
the
USA
supplied
Ethiopia
with part of those arms, including
several “Phantom” fighter planes. This year a supply of several
additional fighter planes is contemplated, as well as supplies for the
Ethiopian navy, and radar defenses.
Malin noted further that the new Ethiopian administration is
pursuing a policy of seeking methods of receiving military
assistance from other sources as well, possibly on terms more
advantages to it, including from the
USSR
(he is aware of the visit
by the Ethiopian military delegation to
Moscow
in December of
1976), as well as the PRC [People’s Republic of
China
], although
he doubts that the Chinese are capable of supplying
Ethiopia
with
“serious armaments.”
The
USA
, Malin emphasized, does not oppose the “socialist
choice” of new
Ethiopia
and, as before, firmly supports the principal
of respect for its territorial integrity, and is against the partition of
Ethiopia
. The
USA
, it is understood, is interested in the guarantee
of stability in that region and freedom of navigation in the
Red Sea
.
Responding to pertinent questions, he said that the American-
Ethiopian agreement of 1953 “on mutual security guarantees”
concerned the preferential supply of assistance by the
USA
to the
armed forces of
Ethiopia
and the guarantee of “certain American
interests,” first and foremost of which was the operation of the
“center of communications” in
Asmara
, which was of great
importance at the time (that center has now been curtailed in
significant part); but, as he understands it, [the agreement] does not
call for the direct involvement of American armed forces in the
defense of
Ethiopia
’s security, for example, in the case of
aggression against it or a threat to its territorial integrity.
Concerning the present deterioration in Ethiopian-Somali
relations, as far as Malin knows, the
USA
has not undertaken any
diplomatic steps toward its normalization or restraint of anti-
Ethiopian actions by the Arab countries, and in fact the Ethiopian
government itself has not raised the issue with the
USA
.
One of the potential sources for an eruption of a conflict in that
region, in Malin’s opinion, is the independence of
Djibouti
that has
emerged this year, inasmuch as a serious disagreement exists
between
Somalia
and
Ethiopia
regarding the future policy of
Djibouti
. In recent months, the Somalis have succeeded in
reinforcing their political influence in
Djibouti
, and their ties with
its present leaders, which has seriously worried the Ethiopians. It is
evident, as well, that after its declaration of independence,
Djibouti
will enter the League of Arab Nations, both in political and
economic respects, inasmuch as the position of
Djibouti
will be
complicated following the departure of the French. An array of
Arab nations has already established consulates there. The
USA
also intends to do this prior to the declaration of independence,
having requested appropriate permission from the government of
France
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