283. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the French Ambassador (Alphand) and the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Wilcox), Department of State, Washington, September 28, 19561
SUBJECT
- Suez Canal
Ambassador Alphand called late this evening to report on a conversation he had on the preceding evening with the Secretary of State,2 relating to the Suez canal, and the subsequent response he had received from the Foreign Office about it.
The Ambassador said that at a dinner party at the French Embassy on Thursday, the Secretary had asked him whether he had heard the rumors about the possibility of the Security Council setting up a negotiating committee to handle the Suez question. The Ambassador replied that he had heard such rumors and he wondered what the Secretary thought about them. According to the Ambassador, the Secretary replied that he was against such an idea. The Ambassador then commented that in his personal view he agreed that the idea was not a good one.
The Ambassador later reported the conversation with the Secretary to Paris and informed me that what he had expressed as a personal view was in fact the attitude of the French Government. He then went on to say that the French believed they could convince the UK that the concept of a negotiating committee was a bad one and that they should not press for such a development in the Security Council.
I replied to Ambassador Alphand that perhaps there had been some misunderstanding between him and the Secretary since I had never heard the Secretary comment adversely upon the idea of a negotiating committee. I said that I was not sure what the Secretary’s views on this matter were but that I would discuss the question with him and contact the Ambassador later.
This I proceeded to do. The Secretary made it clear that he had not intended to take a position on the matter in his discussion with Ambassador Alphand. He had in fact replied in response to the Ambassador’s inquiry in a non-committal way, saying that he did not know.
After ascertaining the Secretary’s views, I immediately informed Ambassador Alphand and pointed out that there had in fact been a [Page 613] misunderstanding; that the Secretary had not intended to take a position on the matter; that he had not studied the question in any detail, and that he believes it is something we ought to keep an open mind about.
I then asked the Ambassador whether his report to the French Government might have influenced the decision of the French. He replied that his Government had already taken a position before it had received his cable about the Secretary’s views, and that in fact the report he had submitted had had no effect whatsoever upon the French decision.
In discussing the matter further with me, Ambassador Alphand stated that “It is my clear impression that the Secretary was not in favor of a negotiating committee—that he was against it.” He went on to say that he himself felt it would be “very dangerous” and that the French were not in favor of giving any right to any committee to negotiate for the Council. “After having said what we did in London and Paris about the violation of rights”, he commented, “if we now say we can accept a committee of the Security Council, we will be subject to ridicule.”
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/9–2856. Confidential; Limited Distribution. Drafted by Wilcox.↩
- See Document 276.↩