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The Committee had before them a memorandum by the Foreign Secretary (OPD(67) 45) on additional measures that might be taken in South Arabia
before and after her independence.
THE FOREIGN SECRETARY said that his memorandum set out in detail a
series of proposals based on recommendations made by the new
thest
High Commissioner to South Arabia; then followed closely recommen- dations made earlier by the Minister without Portfolio (Lord Shackleton)
on his return from his recent stay there. There were three main groups
of recommendations: the first group was directed to strengthening the Federal South Arabian forces and to providing some advisory and
specialist assistance to them; the second was for assistance to the Hadhrani Bedouin Legion (HBL) in the unfederated Eastern sden Protectorate states (EAP); and the third comprised a number of related
measures in respect of internal security, some to enable terrorism to be
more effectively combated, others to encourage political reconciliation
with nationalist groups where possible. The proposals should be
looked at as a whole. Their first objective was to improve the
present situation in the Federation while we remained there, main-
taining security and confidence so as to enable us to withdraw our forces in good order in January 1968 as planned; their second
objective was to enable us to leave behind a stable Government of an independent South Arabia. The cost of the proposed measures might
amount to some $10 million spread over three years, over and above
expenditure already approved of £50 million over the same period.
The additional cost would be justified if it had the intended effect
of averting the breakdown of the Federation, of which there was a grave
risk at present. On the particular recommendations, those involving
military equipment would need further detailed examination of their
practicability. The recommendations relating to internal security
could not be isolated one from another, but must be considered as
a whole. There would be criticism of the proposal to suspend trial by
jury for terrorist offences: but juries were so subject to intimi-
dation in South Arabia at present that they were of no value and
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