867N.01/1176: Telegram
The Consul General at Jerusalem (Wadsworth) to the Secretary of State
[Received 4:20 p.m.]
Associated Press and other news agency cables effectively portray state of intense tension following rebel control Old City Jerusalem except Jaffa Gate area and Armenian and Jewish quarters.
Persistent long range sniping between military surrounding disaffected area and rebel occupants continues but thus far I am informed by Government press officer no deaths either side are known.
As yet no decision taken by military as to how to regain control. To send troops into maze narrow bazaars would entail heavy casualties but this appears to be only course open. There is no question bombardment similar Damascus 1925.83
- See section entitled “Precautions by the United States for the Safety of Americans During the Syrian Insurrection,” Foreign Relations, 1925, vol. ii, pp. 105 ff.↩