Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, The British Commonwealth; The Near East and Africa, Volume III

890D.01/567

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)

[Washington,] November 18, 1941.

The British Minister, Sir Ronald Campbell, called to see me this afternoon at his request.

Sir Ronald said he had been talking this afternoon with the officials in the Near Eastern Division concerning Syria and the Lebanon. He said it was the earnest hope of the British Government that the United States would recognize the independence of Syria and the Lebanon.

I said to Sir Ronald that undoubtedly he had been informed of the difficulties which this Government faced regarding this problem in view of the questions raised by the continuation of the Mandate and our treaty rights in the two regions in question.

He seemed to be familiar only in the most general terms with these problems and said I had assumed that he would wish to inform his Government fully of the point of view of this Government as explained to him by Mr. Murray and his associates.

S[umner] W[elles]