Visit by Sir Michael Palliser (Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office) to the Middle East, January 1981

This file concerns the visit of the Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Sir Michael Palliser to Lebanon, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and Saudi Arabia, and contains briefing notes for each country. The brief for Lebanon concerns:

• The internal political situation
• The Israeli occupation of south Lebanon
• The activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization
• UK-Lebanon relations
• The background to the Lebanese Civil War
• The combatants in the civil war
• A map of Lebanon indicating factional territorial control
• A list of cabinet members of new government of Prime Minister Shafik Al Wazzan

The brief for the PDRY concerns:

• The political situation
• UK-PDRY relations
• Outstanding financial problems between the UK and the PDRY
• The economy
• UK aid
• The Iran-Iraq War
• The Arab-Israel conflict, and the European Council declaration on the Middle East
• The situation in the Horn of Africa
• The Russian invasion of Afghanistan
• Personality notes for Ali Nasir Mohammad, Ali Ahmad Nasir Antar and Salem Saleh Mohammad; and a list of ministers in the PDRY Government

The brief on the YAR concerns:

• The internal political situation
• YAR’s external relations
• The YAR economy
• UK-YAR relations
• UK-YAR trade
• UK aid and technical cooperation

The brief for Saudi Arabia concerns:

• Saudi foreign policy
• Oil
• The internal political situation
• UK-Saudi relations
• A list of Saudi Ministers
• Consular concerns regarding imprisoned British citizens
• Saudi relations in the Middle East

The file also contains:

• Correspondence concerning M A Patterson accompanying the PUS, and the question of his having the right to access classified documents during the visit
• The programmes for Pallister’s visits to Sana’a and Beirut, and guest lists for the functions held during the visits