Editorial Note
Assistant Secretary of State McGhee and several officials of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian and African Affairs travelled to London in September for informal discussions with members of the British Foreign and Colonial Offices between September 16 and 23 concerning problems in the Near East, South Asian, and African regions. Conversations ranged from regional political, economic, and military matters, which are documented below, to specific topics including Cyprus, Greek-Yugoslav relations, the Greek political situation, and Greek-Turkish security, which are documented in pages 335 ff.; the Anglo-Iranian oil dispute and convertability of sterling for Iranian dollar loan repayments, which are documented in pages 445 ff.; Libya and Eritrea, which are documented in pages 1600 ff.; Anglo-Egyptian relations and the Suez Canal, documented in pages 284 ff.; Arab refugees and the Palestine question, documented in pages 658 ff.; and Communism in Africa, British colonial policies in Africa, economic questions concerning Africa, all of which are documented in pages 1503 ff. Documentation on preparations for these discussions including agenda items, briefing papers, travel arrangements, etc., is in Department of State file 120.4371.
From London, McGhee and his party journeyed to Paris for talks between September 25–26 with French officials concerning the Near East and Africa, and from there to Tunis (September 27), Tripoli (September 28), Casablanca (September 29), and Rabat (September [Page 193] 30). The McGhee party then proceeded to Tangier for the North African Diplomatic and Consular Conference, October 2–7. For documentation on the Paris North African talks and the Tangier Conference, see pages 1503 ff. Documentation on the Paris talks concerning the Near East has not been found in Department of State files. For information on McGhee’s visit to Tunis, see page 1786; for the record of his audience with the Sultan of Morocco in Rabat, see page 1747. McGhee’s conversation with the Mufti of Tripolitania, Sheikh Mohammed Abul As’ Ad Alam in Tripoli is in Department of State file 611.73/9–2850.