890D.01/1–1146: Telegram
The Chargé in Syria (Porter) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 17—10:44 a.m.]
11. Deptel 413, December 20 to Beirut.15 PriMin16 stated to me this morning that though he understood that we did not support Anglo-French agreement on Levant he felt we were being noticeably reticent in commenting on its undesirable features. His uneasiness had increased, he said, when he saw in Secretary Byrnes’ speech17 a statement to effect that we must not expect that each and every problem [Page 757] can be presented to and solved by UNO. Also, the possible application to Syria of that portion of Secretary’s speech dealing with arrangements for security organizations troubled him.
Did first of above statements mean Syria’s problems might not be considered, he inquired. As for the second statement, he hoped British and French would not be permitted to make arrangements between themselves concerning Levant security as everyone knew what would happen then. Any assurances we might be in a position to give on these points would relieve his mind considerably.18
Sent Dept as 11; repeated London for Minister Wadsworth.
- Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. viii, p. 1184.↩
- Saadalah Jabri.↩
- Delivered on January 14, 1946, before the General Assembly of the United Nations at London; for text, see Department of State Bulletin, January 27, 1946, p. 87, or United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, First Session, First Part, Plenary Meetings, p. 111.↩
- In telegram 7, January 25, 1946, the Department instructed the Chargé to reassure the Syrian Prime Minister regarding U.S. policy along the lines outlined in Department’s telegram 18, January 18, 1946, 8 p.m., to Beirut, printed on p. 758.↩