770.5/4–2954
The Second Secretary of the Embassy in the United Kingdom (Rutter) to the Department of State1
No. 3586
Reference:
- Despatch 200, March 24, 1954, from Consulate General, Dakar.2
Subject:
- British Comment on Dakar Defense Facilities Conference.
The strict security precautions surrounding the African Defense Facilities Conference, which met at Dakar from March 11 to 19, probably served to eliminate all but the barest references to the meeting from the British press. The Government did, however, express satisfaction with the results of the Conference in the House of Lords on April 14. Moreover, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense seemed satisfied with the limited results achieved and now wish to press forward with their implementation.
In the House of Lords Lord Ogmore, who led the British delegation at the 1951 Nairobi Conference, asked the Government for a statement on the Dakar Conference. Earl Alexander of Tunis, the Minister of Defense, replied as follows:
“The Conference was called to reach common agreement on the use, in time of war or international emergency, of existing and projected facilities for communications and the movement of military forces and supplies in the Western Territories of Africa South of the Sahara. In its general aims, it was complementary to the Conference held at Nairobi in 1951 on the initiative of the United Kingdom and South African Governments, which made a similar study of movement facilities and communications between the South of Africa and the Middle East. On that occasion, the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, led the British delegation and was elected Chairman of the Conference, and he will remember the great variety of subjects discussed and agreed so successfully under his chairmanship. It should suffice for me to say, therefore, that the Dakar Conference was equally successful. The recommendations of the Conference are now being studied by Governments.”
Lord Ogmore then asked a supplementary question regarding the Government’s intention to tie up the loose ends between the two conferences and to hold another conference. To this Earl Alexander replied:
“My Lords, until this week not all the countries attending the Conference of which the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, was Chairman, had accepted the recommendations. It was only last week that the last country accepted those recommendations, but now that they have all done so, action has been taken to devise the best measures for implementing them. As regards the present Conference, we shall have to wait until the countries concerned have accepted the recommendations made, of which there are quite a number, and when we receive those acceptances we can again see how those recommendations can best be implemented. As regards a third Conference, I would not say it has been thought of. I have not immediately thought of it, but suggested it, because I think these Conferences can do nothing but good. A good deal of information has been gained, useful recommendations have been made, and, if we can implement them, a great deal will have been done. Therefore we will bear in mind the noble Lord’s suggestion about a third Conference.”
According to an officer in the African Department of the Foreign Office, Alexander was caught a bit off guard by the question about another conference. In this officer’s opinion, the Government is unlikely to take any initiative to convene another similar conference. As the Foreign Office anticipated, the Dakar Conference indicated the considerable reluctance of several representatives, particularly the Portuguese, to commit themselves on the use of facilities under conditions which now cannot be foreseen. In this connection the British view is that it is enough for the time being to reach agreement in principle on the lines of the draft report. If this can be ratified by the several Governments and implemented, the British will be satisfied for the time being.
On other aspects of the Conference the Foreign Office was somewhat disappointed that agreement could not be reached to establish a small permanent secretariat and to achieve more precise arrangements for the exchange of information. Whereas the British had expected the French to press strongly for a more distinct link between NATO and the African facilities under consideration, at the Conference the French Delegation contented itself with only a mild effort in this direction.
The Foreign Office representative emphasized that in no way did the Dakar Conference represent a British attempt to organize an African regional security organization. Future efforts would continue to center on technical aspects, and any move toward the assumption of broader military and political engagements would be resisted.