774.5/4–1151: Despatch
The Ambassador in Egypt (Caffery) to the Department of State
No. 2446
Subject: Transmission of Egyptian Foreign Office Aide-Mémoire re Gulf of Aqaba1
As stated in the reference despatch2 this Embassy has kept all inquiries of the Government of Egypt concerning an Egyptian naval blockade in the Gulf of Aqaba on a highly informal and personal basis with officials of the Egyptian Foreign Office. It was, therefore, somewhat of a surprise recently when the Counselor of the Embassy was handed an Aide-Mémoire on the subject during the course of one of his regular visits to Abdul Rahman Hakki Pasha, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That Hakki Pasha may have been slightly confused was evidenced by the fact that he apologized to the Counselor for having misplaced the Embassy’s Aide-Mémoire on the subject. There had, of course, been no such Aide-Mémoire.
The Embassy is certain that the appropriate legal section of the Department will wish to give the most careful consideration to the contents of the enclosed Aide-Mémoire and would appreciate instructions as to the type of acknowledgment, if any, which should be made of its receipt. That the Government of Egypt is not certain of its own position may be indicated by the facts uncovered by the Office of the Naval Attaché that the “Circular to Shipping” put out by the Egyptian Government in implementation of the reasoning contained in the Aide-Mémoire was dated December 25, 1950, was in Arabic but not in French, was received by only one shipping agent in Alexandria contrary to the normal custom of full circulation, and only two weeks ago was denied by one agency of the Egyptian Government as even being in existence.
Although rejection of the points made in the Aide-Mémoire may present a complicated and even questionable legal problem, if the Aide-Mémoire is received only in silence such silence will be interpreted by the Government of Egypt as acquiescence of the United States Government in the position assumed.