Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

320/10–1551: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Gifford) to the Secretary of State

confidential

London, October 15, 1951—4 p.m.

1837. Following obtained from Parrott and Hope,¹ UN Department of the Foreign Office on Sixth General Assembly.

[Here follows discussion of several items on the provisional agenda of the General Assembly.]

7. Handling of Italian Membership Problem:

Fol is UK’s suggested tactics for dealing with this matter in both GA and SC:

a. Arrange to have problem arise first in Comite IV in context of item on full participation of Italy in work of TC. Resolution wld be proposed, perhaps by France, by which GA wld request SC to reconsider Italy’s application as special case. In comite debate emphasis wld be placed on Italy’s special responsibilities under trusteeship agreement for Somaliland. In plenary emphasis wld be given to Italy’s special qualifications for membership.

b. Pursuant to this GA resolution question wld then be taken up in SC. If, as a result, Italy shld be admitted, UK would immed propose admission of Ceylon.

c. If these tactics adopted, it would be desirable to have Comite IV action taken before new Peruvian item arises in Comite I or ad hoc.

d. UK sees no merit in Italian scheme for circumventing veto, in any proposal to amend Article 86, or in “associate membership” idea of increased Italian participation in GA but without vote.

e. Sanders, Gerig, Allen agreed to report and consider foregoing suggestions and consult further with UK between now and GA.²

Repeated information USUN 17, Paris unnumbered.

Gifford

1. C. C. Parrott, Head of the United Nations (Political) Department in the British Foreign Office, and C. P. Hope, Assistant to the Head of Department.
2. William Sanders, O. Benjamin Gerig (Executive Officer for Committee IV Matters), and Ward P. Allen, respectively, in London at this time for discussions between the Department of State and the British Foreign and Colonial Offices regarding colonial policy problems at the United Nations; for documentation on this subject, see pp. 623 ff.