Office of the Historian

890G.001/2–2345: Telegram

The Minister in Iraq (Henderson) to the Secretary of State

Baghdad, February 23, 1945—midnight.
[Received February 24—5:15 p.m.]

72. For the [American] Minister [to Iraq] from Offie.11 The President has requested that following message be sent to you:

“Please deliver in appropriate form the following message from me to Regent of Iraq:12

‘I very much regret that the brief and unplanned nature of my visit to Middle East did not make it possible for me to visit Iraq to see you. I understand reports have reached you concerning a conference on Arab questions which the President of Syria arranged in which I participated. I wish to assure you that there was no such conference and that during my brief stay in Egyptian waters I saw individually and alone the King of Egypt, the Emperor of Abyssinia, and the King of Saudi Arabia. These visits were of a personal and ceremonial nature. I understand that you are considering a visit to the United States sometime this spring and I wish to tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing you in Washington during your visit’”.13

  • [Offie]
  • Henderson
  1. Carmel Offie, Deputy United States Political Adviser to the Supreme Allied-Commander, Mediterranean Theater.↩
  2. Prince Abdul Ilah.↩
  3. See bracketed note, p. 586.↩