881.00/6–1945
The French Ambassador (Bonnet) to the Acting Secretary of State
The Ambassador of France to the United States presents his compliments to His Excellency the Acting Secretary of State and, referring to his note No. 881.00 of June 9 concerning the International Zone of Tangiers, has the honor to communicate to him below the reply of the French Government.
The latter deems that the regime instituted by the Paris Convention of 1923, which has never ceased to be in force, must be again put into effect, at least as a whole, and that it must in any case serve as a basis for the political and administrative statute of the International Zone.
The French Government is, however, not opposed to the proposal formulated by the Government of the United States concerning the examination in common, at the proper time, by the Powers concerned, of changes which might be proposed in the said regime and of adaptations of its provisions which might prove necessary.
It feels, nevertheless, as does the American Government itself, that such examination could take place only later on and that it is advisable, meanwhile, to proceed without delay to common action before the Spanish Government in order to induce the latter to withdraw its troops from the International Zone. His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco, in fact, has informed the Resident-General of France at Rabat of his desire to recover the exercise of his rights of sovereignty, which—within the framework of the International Statute—belong to him over that part of his Empire. The French Government desires, therefore, to enter as soon as possible into conversations which will make it possible to define the modalities of the said common action before the Government of Madrid and to determine the conditions under which the de facto and the de jure status existing before the Spanish coup can be restored.
As for the place where the said conversations shall be held, the French Government had, on May 26, already invited the American and British Governments, through their Ambassadors, to open the said negotiations in France. The French Government thinks that it would be natural for these conversations to take place in France because, on the one hand, of the fact that the preceding conferences on the International Zone of Tangiers, in 1923 and 1928, were held in Paris, and, on the other hand, of the fact that Tangier and its zone are under the sovereignty of the Sultan, who is placed under the protectorate of France by virtue of the Treaty of March 30, 1912.
The Ambassador of France would appreciate it if His Excellency the Acting Secretary of State would inform him as soon as possible [Page 621] of the consideration which he will be good enough to reserve for these proposals.39
Mr. Henri Bonnet is happy to avail himself [etc.]
- In telegram 2934, June 25, 1945, 6 p.m., to Paris, Ambassador Caffery was instructed to inform the Foreign Office of United States acceptance of the invitation to participate in informal conversations on Tangier. The United States would be represented by Henry S. Villard, Chief of the Division of African Affairs, J. Rives Childs, former Chargé” at Tangier, and Ernest J. Dempster of the Tangier Legation (881.00/5–2845). Telegram 3859, June 26, 1945, 9 p.m., from Paris, indicated that the French Foreign Office had been so informed (881.00/6–2645).↩