Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Africa and South Asia, Volume XI, Part 1

771.00/4–1753

The Chargé at Tangier (Witman) to the President of the Committee of Control (Panafieu)¹

confidential

Tangier, March 3, 1953.

Mr. President and Dear Colleague: I have the honor to inform you, with reference to the Protocol modifying the Franco-British Accord of August 31, 1945, which was approved and signed on November 10, 1952, by all of the members of the Tangier Committee of Control, that it was the desire of my Government to abstain from voting on that part of Article IV of the Protocol reestablishing the Mixed Bureau of Information, although the minutes of the meeting of the Committee of Control at which the Protocol was signed, and of those leading up to its signature, apparently do not so indicate. My Government’s decision to abstain from voting on the proposal to reestablish the Mixed Bureau of Information was taken on the understanding, however, that such abstention would not defeat the rule of unanimity in Article 8 of the Agreement of August 31, 1945, the United States Government having no desire to veto the entire Protocol merely because it did not view with favor the reestablishment of the Mixed Bureau of Information.

Moreover, I have been instructed to state further that at the time of the acceptance by the United States Government of the Joint French-British invitation to participate in the provisional international regime created by the Agreement of August 31, 1945, my Government made formal reservations to the effect that its decision to participate in that regime did not imply adherence to the 1923 Statute (as revised in 1928) and should not be deemed to modify or abridge in any manner (1) the position of the United States, (2) the status of the United States representative, (3) the establishment, authority, and power of the United States’ extraterritorial jurisdiction, or (4) any rights accruing to the United States and its nationals and resortissants from treaty, custom, and usage. My Government’s signature of the Protocol of November 10, 1952, modifying the Agreement of August 31, 1945, is, of course, subject to those same reservations.

Please accept [etc.]

William Witman II

1. This note, which was composed by Edwin L. Smith, the legal adviser of the Legation, was an enclosure to despatch 419 of Apr. 17, 1953 from Tangier. (771.00/4–1753) Panafieu was also the French Consul General at Tangier.