Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Arab-Israeli Dispute; United Arab Republic; North Africa, Volume XIII

378. Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Murphy) to the Secretary of State¹

Washington, February 19, 1958.

SUBJECT

• Tunisian Good Offices

I met with the senior officers concerned with this problem and we tentatively agreed on the following approach:

1. An announcement has been drafted and is attached for issuance this afternoon subject to your approval.²

2. Ambassadors Caccia and Alphand should be asked in this afternoon. Mr. Elbrick and I will indicate your decision and the line we propose to follow.³

3. Mr. Palmer is seeing Ambassador Slim this afternoon and will confidentially advise him.⁴

4. If you agree, I propose to leave for London on Friday and would touch base in New York before departure with Wadsworth and possibly SYG. We would notify SYG today of this appointment. In London I would meet Harold Macmillan and Selwyn Lloyd to organize a program and procedure. We all feel that while it may not be necessary in all instances for the U.S. and U.K. representatives to act together, there must be prior agreement on positions to be taken vis-à-vis the French and Tunisians.

5. One position would probably call initially for withdrawal of all French forces from southern Tunisia. We agreed there must be some affirmative movement by the French promptly if the situation in Tunisia is not to deteriorate further.

6. With Becker concurring we feel it best at this stage not to seek agreed terms of reference with the French regarding our activity. If, however, the French impose impossible conditions, we could consider withdrawal from the good offices operation.

7. After coordination in London, if successful, I would proceed to Paris, then to Tunis, for consultation with governments. We considered that there would be no advantage in establishing a place such as Rome to center operations. Five places are already involved and we would urge that Washington be considered the principal locus. No matter what we do or say, the London–Paris axis no doubt will operate.⁵

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 651.72/2–1958. Secret. Drafted by Murphy, sent to the Secretary through S/S, and initialed by Murphy and Fisher Howe. Copies were sent to Elbrick and Palmer.
2. See footnote 4, supra.
3. Memoranda of these conversations are in Department of State, Central Files, 651.72/2–1958.
4. A memorandum of this conversation is ibid.
5. Dulles initialed his approval on the source text. Murphy left Washington for New York February 21; a summary of his conversation with Hammarskjöld is in telegram 908 from New York, February 21. (Ibid., 651.72/2–2158) Arriving in London February 22, Murphy shuttled between London, Paris, and Tunis until his return to Washington April 20. Documentation on his travels is ibid., 110.13–MU; documentation on his discussions with Tunisian, French, and British officials is ibid., 651.72. For Murphy’s account of his mission, see Diplomat Among Warriors, pp. 394–396.