890D.01/671: Telegram
The Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Beirut (Wadsworth) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 25—6:14 p.m.]
47. ZTN evening January 23, for publication yesterday’s newspapers, French Delegation General issued following communiqué signed by Monsieur Helleu8 “For The French National Committee”:
The French National Committee,
Resolved to reinforce the independence of Syria and Lebanon, an independence proclaimed in its name by General Catroux in 1941,9
And considering, after consultation with the British Government, that the evolution of the military situation in the country warrants reestablishment of the constitutional regime,
Has given mandate to the Delegate General and Plenipotentiary, Commander-in-Chief in the Levant, to take to this end all necessary dispositions, after consultation with the Governments of the Syrian and Lebanese Republics as well as with the principal local political personalities.
The expected early return of General Catroux to the Levant will thus mark a decisive step in the political life of Lebanon and Syria.
- Jean Helleu, Acting Free French Delegate in Syria and Lebanon, in the absence of General Catroux.↩
- For correspondence regarding this subject, see Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. iii, pp. 785 ff.↩