87. Editorial Note

The Suez Canal Conference (also known as the 22–Power London Conference) met in London August 16–23. Of the 24 nations invited by the United Kingdom to the Conference only Egypt and Greece declined the invitation. The 22 nations which sent representatives to the Conference were: Australia, Ceylon, Denmark, Ethiopia, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States. While the Government of Egypt refused to participate formally in the Conference, the Chief of Nasser’s Political Cabinet, Ali Sabri, was in London August 19–22, acting as an unofficial observer. An unsigned memorandum, dated August 23, contains a brief summary of Sabri’s activities, the summary having been forwarded to the Department of State by the CIA. According to the memorandum, Sabri spent most of his time attempting to influence other delegations, especially those from Asian countries. (Department of State, State–JCS Meetings: Lot 61 D 417, Omega #10) No indication has been found in Department of State files that Sabri spoke with United States officials while he was in London.

The membership of the United States Delegation to the Suez Canal Conference was as follows: United States Representative—John Foster Dulles; Special Assistant to the Representative—John W. Hanes; Coordinator of the delegation—William B. Macomber; Senior Advisers—Winthrop W. Aldrich, Herman Phleger, Gordon Gray, Carl W. McCardle, Robert R. Bowie, Charles E. Bohlen, C. Douglas Dillon, William M. Rountree, and Walworth Barbour; Advisers—Andrew H. Berding, Don C. Bliss, William C. Burdett, Jr., W. Bradley Connors, Andrew B. Foster, Dayton S. Mak, Stanley D. Metzger, Edwin G. Moline, Arthur R. Ringwalt, William R. Tyler, and Evan M. Wilson; Special Assistant to the Coordinator—J. Steward Cottman; Assistants—Roger Kirk and Frank E. Maestrone. For a list of the chief delegates at the Conference, see The Suez Canal Problem, July 26–September 22, 1956, pages xii–xiii.

The papers of the United States Delegation are contained in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 61 D 181. Included are daily chronologies and schedules; position papers; verbatim minutes of the eight plenary sessions prepared by the United States Delegation; memoranda of conversations and other numbered documents [Page 213] prepared by the United States Delegation; copies of Secto, Tosec, Dulte, and Tedul telegrams sent between London and the Department of State; administrative papers; and miscellaneous papers. This collection also contains copies of records kept by the Conference’s International Secretariat, including a verbatim record of the eight plenary sessions. An edited version of the verbatim record prepared by the International Secretariat, which contains all of the substantive statements made during the eight plenary sessions, as well as supporting documents, is printed in The Suez Canal Problem, July 26–September 22, 1956, pages 255–293.