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Excerpts from the diary of the US ambassador to the Kingdom, Hume Horan:
In his memoirs, he talked about the story of his expulsion from the kingdom, where he said that in 1986, before he began his work in the kingdom, the Congress accepted a presidential veto banning arming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, adding later on we told the Saudis, "Do not forget that you can buy the F-15, but we will absolutely not allow the number of fighters to exceed 60 under any circumstances.
The Saudis wanted to obtain Maverick air-to-air missiles, the Saudis said: The F-15 is a strong and tough fighter and wears full battle wear, but it lacks a sword and spear! We told them that we would not agree to that because we know that Congress cannot agree to that, and this response angered the Saudis.
And the US ambassador went on in his memoirs, saying:
“In 1988 Prince Bandar bin Sultan informed the American government that Saudi Arabia no longer saw the United States of America as a reliable ally. And that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very concerned, later I learned that Prince Bandar's talk with the US government was also worrying us".
Ambassador Horan continued in his memoirs: “In the summer of 1988 we learned that Bandar bin Sultan had purchased (without our knowledge) from the Chinese Communists surface-to-surface missiles capable of reversing the balance of power in the Middle East. We were very shocked that the person responsible for the deal was Bandar himself! We were in the utmost concern because our information was that these missiles were exclusively for carrying nuclear warheads, and we had no information that China had replaced them with conventional warheads, adding, “We were both surprised and anxious. These missiles had reached the Kingdom and were kept in hard-to-reach places with Chinese-Saudi cooperation, which prompted Israel to be concerned, but I would not exaggerate if I said that it was afraid.
He added, “Prince Bandar justified the deal to us by saying that you were not cooperating with us. We are tired of the American measures and the incessant opposition from Congress. 1988 I received orders from my government to meet with King Fahd. I was required to tell him that the US government accepts his assurances and takes His Majesty's words with the utmost seriousness that the missiles are not nuclear, but at the same time we cannot be sure that the neighboring countries will be equally reassured."
I have been asked to convey this message to King Fahd: "All work related to building missile platforms, training and maintenance provided by the Chinese must be stopped. We want you to give us at least this promise."
On March 15th, I called working secretary Peter Burley and asked him whether we would really address the Saudis in this way, and he answered yes, this will be the policy that we will follow in this matter and that I must act accordingly, so I asked to meet the king and sent a summary of the reason for the meeting.
He pointed out that: "on March 17th, the US State Department sent a shocking message to me, which said that what I sent to the Royal Court on the 15th of March did not express American policy! And that the American position that Bandar bin Sultan received on the same day was completely contrary to what I sent to the king, and I was promptly notified to cancel the meeting and end the matter completely on my part. I was also told that King Fahd was not satisfied with me, and the ministry also told me that it would send President Ronald Reagan's special envoy, Philip Habib."
He added: “Philip Habib arrived in the Kingdom and we went to meet the king and the meeting was attended by Bob Oakley, Bill Kirby and Paul Concealor. Now I do not remember what happened except that Philip Habib said and now, Your Majesty, we want to see the missiles with our eyes, so the king said that they are not nuclear and that no one will be allowed To see it and I think that the American ambassador was interfering in something he should not have been involved in."
King Fahd continued his explosion, saying that he was disturbed, then directed his words to the American ambassador, saying: If Iranian blood is what leads the American ambassador, let him keep it inside, then he concluded his speech with "The meeting is over".
And about the final moments of his expulsion from the kingdom, Hume Horan, in his diary:
“I will never forget the moment that Chancellor Kirby called: Royal Bang! I felt offended by the king’s words .. I went back to the embassy and found the echo of the king’s anger on me. The next day, the US State Department sent an order to end my services to Saudi Arabia and that my presence in the Kingdom would hinder Saudi-American relations."
Horan concluded his memoirs regarding the story of his expulsion from the kingdom by saying:
“I had hoped that they would wait a long time to respect my service as an American ambassador, so that the matter would not appear as if I was expelled from Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, I was withdrawn from the kingdom within two weeks. My term in Saudi Arabia ended and we were unable to convince the Saudis to allow us to see these missiles".
The missile in the middle appears to have a "MARV" warhead
There was some manufacturing also..
In his memoirs, he talked about the story of his expulsion from the kingdom, where he said that in 1986, before he began his work in the kingdom, the Congress accepted a presidential veto banning arming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, adding later on we told the Saudis, "Do not forget that you can buy the F-15, but we will absolutely not allow the number of fighters to exceed 60 under any circumstances.
The Saudis wanted to obtain Maverick air-to-air missiles, the Saudis said: The F-15 is a strong and tough fighter and wears full battle wear, but it lacks a sword and spear! We told them that we would not agree to that because we know that Congress cannot agree to that, and this response angered the Saudis.
And the US ambassador went on in his memoirs, saying:
“In 1988 Prince Bandar bin Sultan informed the American government that Saudi Arabia no longer saw the United States of America as a reliable ally. And that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very concerned, later I learned that Prince Bandar's talk with the US government was also worrying us".
Ambassador Horan continued in his memoirs: “In the summer of 1988 we learned that Bandar bin Sultan had purchased (without our knowledge) from the Chinese Communists surface-to-surface missiles capable of reversing the balance of power in the Middle East. We were very shocked that the person responsible for the deal was Bandar himself! We were in the utmost concern because our information was that these missiles were exclusively for carrying nuclear warheads, and we had no information that China had replaced them with conventional warheads, adding, “We were both surprised and anxious. These missiles had reached the Kingdom and were kept in hard-to-reach places with Chinese-Saudi cooperation, which prompted Israel to be concerned, but I would not exaggerate if I said that it was afraid.
He added, “Prince Bandar justified the deal to us by saying that you were not cooperating with us. We are tired of the American measures and the incessant opposition from Congress. 1988 I received orders from my government to meet with King Fahd. I was required to tell him that the US government accepts his assurances and takes His Majesty's words with the utmost seriousness that the missiles are not nuclear, but at the same time we cannot be sure that the neighboring countries will be equally reassured."
I have been asked to convey this message to King Fahd: "All work related to building missile platforms, training and maintenance provided by the Chinese must be stopped. We want you to give us at least this promise."
On March 15th, I called working secretary Peter Burley and asked him whether we would really address the Saudis in this way, and he answered yes, this will be the policy that we will follow in this matter and that I must act accordingly, so I asked to meet the king and sent a summary of the reason for the meeting.
He pointed out that: "on March 17th, the US State Department sent a shocking message to me, which said that what I sent to the Royal Court on the 15th of March did not express American policy! And that the American position that Bandar bin Sultan received on the same day was completely contrary to what I sent to the king, and I was promptly notified to cancel the meeting and end the matter completely on my part. I was also told that King Fahd was not satisfied with me, and the ministry also told me that it would send President Ronald Reagan's special envoy, Philip Habib."
He added: “Philip Habib arrived in the Kingdom and we went to meet the king and the meeting was attended by Bob Oakley, Bill Kirby and Paul Concealor. Now I do not remember what happened except that Philip Habib said and now, Your Majesty, we want to see the missiles with our eyes, so the king said that they are not nuclear and that no one will be allowed To see it and I think that the American ambassador was interfering in something he should not have been involved in."
King Fahd continued his explosion, saying that he was disturbed, then directed his words to the American ambassador, saying: If Iranian blood is what leads the American ambassador, let him keep it inside, then he concluded his speech with "The meeting is over".
And about the final moments of his expulsion from the kingdom, Hume Horan, in his diary:
“I will never forget the moment that Chancellor Kirby called: Royal Bang! I felt offended by the king’s words .. I went back to the embassy and found the echo of the king’s anger on me. The next day, the US State Department sent an order to end my services to Saudi Arabia and that my presence in the Kingdom would hinder Saudi-American relations."
Horan concluded his memoirs regarding the story of his expulsion from the kingdom by saying:
“I had hoped that they would wait a long time to respect my service as an American ambassador, so that the matter would not appear as if I was expelled from Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, I was withdrawn from the kingdom within two weeks. My term in Saudi Arabia ended and we were unable to convince the Saudis to allow us to see these missiles".
The missile in the middle appears to have a "MARV" warhead
There was some manufacturing also..
