417. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Walmsley) to the Director of the Executive Secretariat (Howe)1
Today’s GA meeting on Syria was adjourned at the lunch hour. The GA will reconvene Wednesday morning to continue.
The estimates today are somewhat less optimistic than last night on the termination of the debate. It seems that Fawzi is working very hard on the Syrians not to submit the resolution for an investigating commission but, on the other hand, to accept the proposed offer by the Secretary General. This is borne out by the circumstantial evidence of the Syrians having scratched themselves from the speakers list when they had expected to put forward their resolution. Although the Syrians had spoken earlier this morning, they had re-inscribed themselves for a later intervention.
Fawzi had been in consultation with the Secretary General who is reported to be redrafting the statement that he would make at the appropriate time.2 We have not yet seen the text. The indications are that the minimum that the Egyptians would settle for, and we have to assume this represents the position of some other Arabs as well, is the constitutional intervention in the affair by the Secretary General with, of course, Syrian consent.
The Soviet speech this morning is regarded by our people in New York as a pro forma rebuttal, without much punch and has had no visible effect on attitudes.