PPS Files, Lot 64/D/563, Libya
1Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy Director of the Office of African and Near Eastern Affairs (Moose)
Subject: United States Military Requirements in Tripolitania
| Participants: | British Foreign Office: Mr. Michael Wright |
| ANE—Mr. Moose | |
| ANE—Mr. Kopper2 | |
| London Embassy—Mr. Palmer |
Mr. Wright, adverting to his conversation of November 15, 1949,3 with Assistant Secretary McGhee, inquired whether or not the Department had been able to obtain confirmation of the continuing desire of the United States Government to secure air base rights in Tripolitania.
Mr. Moose replied that an oral inquiry had been addressed to the competent officer in the Department of Defense, and that the reply had been in the affirmative. When Mr. Moose had asked for an indication of the extent of the rights desired, he had been informed that the rights contemplated by the Defense Department consisted of rights [Page 60] to an “airbase and supporting facilities”. Included in that phrase are 1) the right to develop, operate and maintain the present base; 2) the right to develop, operate and maintain the present oil pipeline (or other pipelines) from the port of Tripoli to Wheelus Field; 3) the right to develop, operate and maintain fuel and ammunition storage at Wheelus Field as well as in dispersed localities; 4) the right to develop, operate and maintain necessary communication facilities, including the present radio station; 5) unrestricted access to and between the facilities enumerated, including the use of the Port of Tripoli or other ports; and 6) the right to station such personnel in Tripolitania as may be needed for the operation and protection of the facilities. The rights described above, said Mr. Moose, are indicative of United States needs, but are not necessarily comprehensive.
Mr. Wright observed that he would like to have some kind of written record of the foregoing points, so the British provisional administration in Tripolitania could keep them in mind as an objective. Mr. Moose replied that he did not imagine there would be any objection, though he was not sure how this information should be transmitted.
Mr. Wright asked how firm the United States military authorities are in their desire for air base rights. He added that it would be embarrassing if the British were to make arrangements for such rights to be granted to the United States, only to find that they were no longer desired. Mr. Moose replied that the officer in the Department of Defense to whom he had talked had indicated that the Department was firm in its desire for the base rights. The officer had indicated no wavering in the official desire for the rights, although observing that further planning and budgetary conditions would of course govern the use which might be made of such rights.