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CONFIDENTIAL (N (A ABINET OFFICE A SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRADE j " - l f ' G i r l 5 T a u c T W N S FILE No FCS/78/206 ECGD CREDIT COVER FOR TANZANIA As a result of the Ugandan invasion of Tanzanian territory, President Nyerere has made an urgent appeal to us for assistance over the supply of considerable quantities of defence equipment. A copy of the latest Tanzanian list is enclosed. The cost is some £20 m. In making their requests the Tanzanians indicated that they would like help over credit terms as well as in expediting delivery. 2. We have so far confined our response to the Tanzanian Government to providing them with a small number of mine detectors, plus the cost of airfreighting a commercially - purchased girder bridget borne by FCO funds. We have also made an offer of funds for relief and rehabilitation £o.z?jthe area invaded by Uganda and expressed readiness to do all we can to expedite orders for equipment placed b3>* the Tanzanian Government with United Kingdom suppliers. In this connection I should point out that Tanzania's existing commercial orders for military equipment from UK suppliers are substantial and worth fostering. For example we are about to deliver 36 Scorpion tanks. 3. A member of the Defence Sales Organisation will be visiting Tanzania next week to discuss the supply position on both current and new orders. Some of the items on the Tanzanian list of requirements, eg Viper mine removing equipment, and Blowpipe anti-tank missiles, cannot be supplied now on security or delivery grounds. The balance of their list comes to some £7.5 m. 4. We had earlier understood that there was a small margin in the credit cover which ECGD had available for Tanzania under Section 2 of the Exports Guarantees Act. This could have allowed /us CONFIDENTIAL