350. Memorandum From the Secretary of State to the President1
SUBJECT
- Reply to the King of Morocco’s Message to you of March 14, 1958
You will recall that on March 14 the King of Morocco sent a message to you2 [less than 1 line of source text not declassified]. He was informed that a reply would be made in due course. In view of the complexity and variety of the subjects raised by the King, and the need for secret handling of his message, the Department sent a representative to Rabat to clarify certain points with the Ambassador and discuss directly with him the best way to deal with this matter. It has been necessary to clear the proposed replies in various agencies of the [Page 766] government, to revise them several times in the light of the rapidly changing situation in North Africa, and to work out at length with the Department of Defense a proposed exchange of notes with the Moroccan Government which would constitute a satisfactory new approach to the problem of the status of our forces and the conduct of our operations in Morocco. All this has taken considerable time, but we are now ready to issue detailed instructions to the Embassy in Rabat if you approve the general line proposed herein.
Since the King has apparently not informed his ministers of the existence of his message to you, the Ambassador would not specifically mention it in their presence unless the King referred to it, or other circumstances made it desirable for him to do so.
The Ambassador would be instructed to explain our point of view with regard to the air bases and to submit an exchange of notes which, if acceptable to the King, would constitute a provisional agreement. This agreement would permit us to continue our operations and ensure satisfactory conditions for our personnel pending a more definitive agreement which we would hope to conclude after Morocco has arrived at new defense relationships with France and Spain, most of whose forces the King wishes withdrawn in due course.
Although the subject was not raised in the King’s message, I think it would also be opportune for the Ambassador to stress our desire to reach an agreement covering the Voice of America relay base at Tangier. The Ambassador would further be allowed discretion to reply on your behalf to various points made in the King’s message. On Algeria he would be authorized to indicate that we have in the past few months made diplomatic efforts with regard to the conflict but that while we continue to follow the situation closely, we do not wish at this time to prejudice the efforts of the De Gaulle Government in dealing with this matter.
The Ambassador would also be authorized, as appropriate, (1) to attempt to delay Moroccan requests for military equipment, (2) to offer United States consideration of help with Morocco’s internal security needs, (3) to explain our policies and procedures on economic aid, (4) to recall our interest in helping Spain and Morocco to maintain good relations, (5) to express our hope that all the parties concerned will be able to work out a satisfactory settlement regarding the Sahara areas, and (6) to refer to our efforts to assist in resolving the Franco-Tunisian conflict.
Since this mission is most important to our position and interests in Morocco and North Africa, I think its chances of success will be greatly enhanced if the Ambassador is authorized to tell the King that you have given general approval to the views which he is covering.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File. Secret. The source text bears the following handwritten notations by the President and Goodpaster: “June 28. Approved. D.E.” and “(State Dept notified—28 June) G”. Another copy of the memorandum shows Bovey drafted it on June 24. (Department of State, Central Files, 771.11/6–2758)↩
- Not found.↩