740.0011 European War 1939/10678: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Leahy) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 7—1:20 a.m.]
514. Department’s telegram No. 336 [366], April 28, 4 p.m.,57 and Embassy telegram 504, May 1, noon. Rochat said this afternoon that he had mentioned to Admiral Darlan58 himself the report that Italian convoys are passing through Tunisian waters to Libya and the latter had replied, “I suppose they are using our territorial waters for their convoys as the British are mining those waters”. (We pointed put that utilization of Tunisian territorial waters for military convoy purposes would seem to be ample justification for the mining of such waters.)
As to the repair of tanks, trucks and armored cars in Tunisian territory Rochat said that Admiral Darlan denied the report completely; Darlan said, however, that navigation lights at Kelibia and Cape Bon (see Tunis telegram 45, April 26, 1 p.m. to the Department57) have [Page 328] been ordered extinguished “in order to make navigation in Tunisian waters difficult for everyone.”