CONFIDENTIAL Reference. NOTE FOR FILE RECEIV REGISTE - 8 DEC 972 cc: Mr Parsons Mr Wright LOANED OFFICERS IN THE UAE: DISCUSSION WITH THE ADJUTANT GENERAL 1. Mr Wright called on the Adjutant General today, accompanied by Mr Hunt and Mr Reeve. Sir John Mogg stressed that he was speaking on a personal basis and did not wish his views to be reported officially in the FCO. He then made the following points which had also been incorporated in a minute from the CGS to the CDS but which had not been put to MOD Ministers. (a) The AG and the CGS considered that there could be no relaxation of the jurisdictional clauses in the Loan Agreement. The AG said he saw no room for manoeuvre on this. (b) on the Confidential Exchange of Letters, the AG had some sympathy with the UAE Government's concern that the Abu Dhabi Defence Force could be completely disrupted if HMG were to withdraw their seconded officers at the moment when an attack was launched on UAE territory. The AG did not specify how the Exchange of Letters might be amended to meet this point but left the impression that the MOD might be flexible in its approach, (c) The AG said that both he and the CGS were of the opinion that British loaned personnel would probably have to be phased out of the ADDF. He agreed with Mr Wright that it was in British interests to keep the loaned personnel in the Force as long as possible, but with the proviso that we should not hang on until we were pushed out by Zaid. The timing would be difficult, and would require good intelligence. The AG accepted that the whole problem would have to be thrashed out between MOD and FCO in the context of the review to be undertaken of our defence relations in the Gulf. The CGS did not believe that the timetable for this review need be accelerated, (a) The AG said that he had been much impressed by the performance of the Kuwait Liaison Team and thought that we should at least examine the possibility of trying something similar in Abu Dhabi, in place of the present arrangements. He agreed however that the two Forces were very different and that an experiment on the KLT pattern might well prove impossible in Abu Dhabi, at least in the foreseeable future. DD 897261 230443 500M 5/72 GM 3643/2 -1
