Editorial Note

USUN telegram Delga 372, December 15, transmitted the text of a draft resolution on Morocco submitted in Committee I by the 13 members of the Asian-African group. It requested the Government of France and the Sultan of Morocco to enter into negotiations to reach an [Page 607] early peaceful settlement in accord with the sovereignty of Morocco. (320/12–1552) A memorandum by McBride (WE) to Knight (WE) and Bonbright (EUR), dated December 16, said the Asian-African resolution on Morocco was much more moderate than the resolution on Tunisia. It did not suggest a Good Offices Commission and did not ask to have the item automatically placed on the agenda of the next General Assembly session. McBride considered it undesirable, nevertheless, for a number of reasons. For one thing, it said nothing about safeguarding the legitimate interests of France in Morocco. Since the Latin Americans had introduced a resolution that day on Morocco, a copy of which had not yet reached the Department of State, he suggested that the Latin American resolution be considered before a decision was reached to amend or reject the Asian-African one. (771.00/12–1652)

USUN telegram Delga 376, December 16, transmitted the text of a resolution on Morocco sponsored by the same 11 Latin American countries that had sponsored the resolution on Tunisia: Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It expressed hope that France and Morocco would continue negotiations working toward the development of the free political institutions of Morocco, “with due regard to legitimate rights and interests under the established norms and practices of the law of nations.” USUN telegram Delga 377, December 17, transmitted the text of an amendment to the Latin American resolution introduced by the Representative of Pakistan. It revised the wording of one paragraph of the Latin American resolution to hope that negotiations would bring “self-government for Moroccans in the light of the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.” USUN telegram Delga 378, December 17, said the Pakistani amendment was unsatisfactory for several reasons, the most important one being the fact that Morocco was much farther from self-government than Tunisia. Unless the Department objected, he planned to vote against the Pakistani amendment and, if the amendment passed in the committee, he planned to vote against the amended resolution. These telegrams are in Department of State file 320.

The Committee I debate on the Moroccan question began on December 13. Ambassador Jessup spoke on December 15, saying that while there were similarities between the Tunisian and Moroccan questions, the nature of the differences led to the conclusion that the Moroccan problem was more complex. The Committee voted on December 17. It first rejected the Asian-African resolution. It then approved the Latin American resolution, with the addition of the Pakistani amendment, by a vote of 40 to 5, with 11 abstentions. The United States voted against the Pakistani amendment and against the amended Latin American resolution.

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In the plenary session, on December 19, the Pakistani amendment was deleted from the Latin American resolution by a vote of 29 to 8, with 22 abstentions. The United States voted in favor of deleting the Pakistani amendment, and then voted for the resolution as a whole. It was approved by the General Assembly by a vote of 45 to 3, with 11 abstentions.

Ambassador Jessup’s speech is in the Department of State Bulletin, January 5, 1953, pages 33–34. Additional documentation on this topic is in Jessup files, lot 53 D 65.