865.014/10–1647
The Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs ( Henderson ) to the Italian Minister ( di Stefano )
My Dear Mr. di Stefano: I wish to refer to your letter of October 16, 1947 concerning certain requests of the Italian Government in connection with the meeting in London of the Deputies of the Foreign Ministers.1 As you are aware, the Deputies of the Foreign Ministers have now agreed upon the terms of reference and the itinerary of the Commission to investigate the former Italian Colonies. It has been decided that the Commission will visit the territories in the following order: Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, and Libya.
With regard to your request that Italian experts be allowed to present their opinion to the Commission in the various areas visited, the terms of reference agreed upon by the Deputies for the Commission preclude hearing official representatives of the Italian Government in the territories. As you are aware, the American Deputy proposed that those states having territorial claims in the area should be afforded the opportunity of sending representatives to present their views to the Commission at certain specified places, but this proposal was not accepted. As the matter stands at present, however, the Commission is empowered to confer with the inhabitants of the colonies, irrespective of nationality, and all sections of the local population are to be given an opportunity of making their views known.
Under the procedure which has now been agreed upon, moreover, the Deputies of the Foreign Ministers will hear the views of the interested governments on the disposition of the former Italian Colonies and, in particular, will hear first of all those governments which have territorial claims; namely, Italy, Egypt and Ethiopia. It is understood that invitations have been sent to these governments to present their views to the Deputies and that after replies have been received hearings [Page 615] will be scheduled for the governments concerned. After the examination of the reports of the Commission the interested governments, including the Government of Italy, may present supplementary views to the conference of Deputies either in writing or orally. Furthermore, these same governments may, on the recommendation of the Deputies and with the consent of the Council of Foreign Ministers, be given an opportunity to present their views directly to the Council of Foreign Ministers. In view of these procedures, it would appear that the Italian Government will have ample opportunities to present its views and claims and to have them considered carefully by the Council of Foreign Ministers and its Deputies.
Sincerely yours,
- Not printed; it stated that the Italian Government was deeply concerned about the serious repercussions that might result should there be protracted delay in the arrival in Libya of the Commission of Investigation. (865.014/10–1647)↩