CONFIDENTIAL British Embassy, 4 April, 1968. Omar Saqqaf was this week promoted by Royal Decree to the rank of Minister of State. I do not think there is any political significance in this change. There were rumours earlier on that Saqqaf was losing his influence with the King, but I gather now that the position was simply that the King was growing rather tired of Saqqaf's constant ill health and told him ei ther to go away and get cured or to stop complaining. Saqqaf had a month in Beirut and returned refreshed. It seems likely that his promotion should be interpreted as a reward for good services and as a means of enhancing his status at conferences and negotiations outside the Kingdom. 2. When I called to congratulate Saqqaf I asked whether this would mean that he would now attend meetings at the Cabinet. He said that it would not, and that in any case Foreign Affairs were never di scussed in the Cabinet: they remained the sole prerogative of the King! (A. J. M. Craig) M. S. Weir, Esq., Arabian Department, Foreign Office, London, S.w.1. CONFIDENTIAL
