740.00119 European War 1939/759: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Leahy) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:18 p.m.]
828. Embassy’s telegram 816, July 7, 1 p.m. We called on Rochat this afternoon to discuss the situation in Syria and before we could bring up the High Commissioner’s statement reported in Beirut’s triple priority telegram to London this morning28 he stated that steps have now been taken to open direct conversations for an armistice in Syria. He reiterated that at the time of our conversation yesterday he had no information that such a move was even in the air. We told him of our receipt of Beirut’s telegram following which he went on to request that the Embassy emphasize two points in reporting to the Department and to Beirut. The first point he said to which the French attach the greatest importance is continued recognition of French political rights in Syria and the Lebanon. He stressed, with reference to British indications of future independence for Syria, that an armistice for the cessation of hostilities is not the logical place for discussion of such political questions as change of sovereignty. The second point which he said is one of great importance from the point of view of the sensibilities of this Government is that the negotiations should be carried on directly with the British high command and not with any representatives of the De Gaulle forces. Should General Catroux or one of his subordinates be appointed to discuss terms for the cessation of hostilities he feels that such a move might seriously complicate the progress of negotiations or even result in their being broken off.
He said that he is not familiar with the military terms to be discussed; that it is felt much wiser to leave them almost entirely to General Dentz and that the latter had been given “very broad powers”—subject only to the above-mentioned limitation with respect to French political rights in the Levant.
We merely informed Rochat that we would convey the foregoing to our Government.
Repeated to London, Beirut, and Algiers.