Trilateral Treaty among Ethiopia, Libya, and the People’s Democratic Republic of YemenDominica:
M. EUGENIA CHARLES
Grenada:
MAURICE BISHOP
Montserrat:
F. A. L. MARGETSON
St. Kitts/Nevis:
KENNEDY A. SIMMONDS
Saint Lucia:
WINSTON F. CENAC
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:
HUDSON TANNIS4.1423 Trilateral Treaty of Friendship and Co-
operation among Ethiopia, Libya, and the Peo-
ple’s Democratic Republic of Yemen
Alliance Members:Ethiopia, Libya, and the People’s Democratic
Republic of Yemen (South Yemen)
Signed On:August 19, 1981, in the city of Aden (Yemen). In force
until February 1, 1986.
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Keesing’s Record of World Events,January 1982, p. 31280.
SUMMARY
This treaty of friendship and cooperation supported better political
and military ties among three nations closely allied with the Soviet
Union. The signatories, Ali Nasser Mohammed (South Yemen), Col.
Mu ̨ammar Gadhafi (Libya), and Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam
(Ethiopia), sought, in their words, to counter the growing influence of
the U.S. military in surrounding areas, including the Indian Ocean,
Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Mediterranean Sea.
The treaty was immediately denounced by Oman and Egypt, which
argued that the alliance was instigated by the Soviets for the political
purpose of spreading Soviet influence in the Arab region. The alliance
ended when Mohammed-led forces backed by Libya and Ethiopia
attempted to recapture South Yemen following a coup d’état on Janu-
ary 19, 1986.
The following description of terms contains excerpts of the official
text of the treaty, which is unpublished.
Description of Terms
The three signatory parties agreed to co-operate to “guarantee
the common struggle of the three revolutionary countries” (Art.
2) and to “resist” and “foil” the “conspiracies of imperialism,
Zionism and reactionary forces which aim to strangulate pro-
gressive forces and countries by strengthening their military
forces as well as establishing and expanding military bases in
countries located in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea,
the Red Sea and countries of the region” (Art. 3). The three par-
ties rejected the 1978 Camp David agreements (which led to the
Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty) (Art. 4) and reaffirmed their “sol-
idarity with Arab, African and other national liberation
movements, and in particular the Palestine Revolution [and
those of] Namibia and South Africa.. .” (Art. 5). They also
agreed to “exchange ideas to enable them to co-ordinate their
stand on international and continental issues” (Art. 6) and to
“make every possible effort to strengthen and deepen their rela-
tions with the region’s progressive countries and forces, as well
as with socialist countries” (Art.7).
Under Arts. 8 and 9 a political committee was set up consist-
ing of the foreign ministers of each of the three countries, the
duties of this committee being inter alia to “monitor the imple-
mentation of laid down political lines” and to assist a Supreme
Council. With a view to developing economic co-operation an
economic committee was established (Art. 14), its members
being the economic ministers of each country. Both the political
and economic committees would, in accordance with Art. 20,
meet once every six months in the capitals of the signatory
countries in rotation; an emergency meeting could be held at
any time at the request of any one country.
A Supreme Council was also set up (Art. 18) consisting of
the leaders of the three signatory countries as well as the chair-
men of the political, economic (and other) committees, and was
to meet once a year in the three capital cities in rotation, with
emergency meetings being convened at any time if requested by
one of the member states. The Supreme Council would “analyse
the work of the political, economic and other committees” and
“take measures for the full implementation of this work” and
“establish other ministerial committees or secretariats as neces-
sary.”
The three countries furthermore agreed that “in the case of
an aggression committed against any one of them” they would
“assist the victim of aggression in all necessary ways individu-
ally or collectively, since an aggression on one shall be consid-
ered an aggression directed against all the signatory parties”
(Art. 16), and that “in accordance with the agreements to be
signed between them,” they would “make efforts to strengthen
their defensive capabilities and promote their own freedom and
territorial integrity” (Art. 17). (It was subsequently reported
that in the course of the summit, agreement had also been
reached on the formation of a defense committee, made up of
the competent ministers of each country, which would co-ordi-
nate defense policy between the three countries. Details of such
a committee were not, however, given in the text of the treaty.)
The three countries affirmed that the treaty was not “con-
trary to the international treaties and obligations entered into
by the three countries” and that they themselves would not
undertake or enter into “any kind of international agreement
which runs contrary to the articles of this treaty” (Art. 23). Hav-
ing “reaffirmed” their adherence to the charter and principles of
the United Nations and to the principles of the non-aligned
movement, the three parties offered membership of their treaty
to other states which “follow the objectives and goals of this
treaty as well as the provision of the UN Charter and the guide-
lines of the non-aligned movement” (Art. 26).