REESTABLISHMENT OF AN EGYPTIAN PRESENCE IN GAZA; HAMMARSKJOLD’S EFFORTS AT MEDIATION; ANGLO-AMERICAN DISCUSSIONS AT BERMUDA; REOPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL; U.S. EFFORTS TO ALTER THE EGYPTIAN DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE SUEZ CANAL; THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING AT BONN; SCUA CONSIDERATION OF THE CANAL QUESTION; SAUDI CONCERN OVER THE GULF OF AQABA; QUESTION OF A SUEZ INTELLIGENCE FAILURE; BRITISH DECISION TO RESUME TRANSIT OF THE SUEZ CANAL, MARCH 9–MAY 13
298. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/4–2257. Confidential; Niact. Received at 7:55 p.m.
299. Telegram From the Embassy in Egypt to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/4–2357. Secret; Niact.
300. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission at the United Nations
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/4–2257. Confidential; Priority. Drafted by Sisco, Shaw, and Meeker and approved by Rountree who signed for Dulles. Also sent Niact to Cairo.
302. Tentative Notes of the Secretary of State’s Staff Meeting, Department of State, Washington, April 26, 1957, 9:15 a.m.
Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Staff Meetings: Lot 63 D 75. Secret. Drafted by Howe.
303. Circular Telegram From the Department of State to All Diplomatic Missions
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/4–2757. Confidential.
305. Letter From President Eisenhower to Prime Minister Macmillan
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. Secret; Personal. This letter was written in reply to a letter from Macmillan, dated April 15, which reads, in part: “I feel more and more convinced that Nasser and his regime are leading that country and the whole Middle East to disaster and there will be no peace until that system falls.” (Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 182, Macmillan to Eisenhower Corresp. 1957–1958 Vol II)
A first draft of Eisenhower’s letter bears Dulles’ handwritten revisions and a marginal notation indicating the revisions were read over the telephone to Ann Whitman at 5:25 p.m. on April 27. (Ibid.)
306. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/4–1657. Confidential; Priority. Drafted by Shaw; cleared by Moline, De Palma, Rountree, Meeker, and Metzger; and approved by Dillon who signed for Dulles. Repeated Priority to Rome and Paris.
307. Telegram From the Embassy in the United Kingdom to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/5–157. Confidential; Niact. Received at 8:46 a.m. Repeated Niact to Bonn and Paris.
308. Telegram From the Delegation at the North Atlantic Council Ministerial Meeting to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/5–157. Confidential; Priority. Received at 8:11 p.m. Repeated Priority to London and Paris.
309. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/5–157. Confidential. Drafted by Sisco and Meeker; cleared by Moline and Shaw, and Rountree in principle; and approved by Dillon who signed for Herter. Also sent to USUN and repeated to Paris, Cairo, and Bonn.
311. Telegram From the Secretary of State to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.41/5–257. Secret; Niact. Received at 8:02 p.m., May 2.
312. Telegram From the Department of State to the Secretary of State, at Bonn
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.41/5–257. Secret; Niact. Drafted by De Palma; cleared by Wilcox, Rountree, and Shaw; and approved by Herter.
313. Telegram From the Embassy in Egypt to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 033.1100–HU/5–257. Secret. Received at 1:51 a.m., May 3. Repeated to Bonn, Amman, Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus, Jidda, London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Benghazi, and Tunis.
314. Memorandum From the Secretary of State’s Special Assistant for Intelligence (Armstrong) to the Acting Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.5280/5–357. Secret.
315. Telegram From the Delegation at the North Atlantic Council Ministerial Meeting to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 396.1–BO/5–357. Confidential; Priority. Received at 2:37 p.m. Repeated to USUN and London.
During the morning of May 3, Counselor of the British Embassy Bailey informed Shaw that the British Government would be discussing the Suez problem with Hammarskjöld in Geneva that day and would ask him to seek clarifications from Nasser as to whether the Egyptian Government considered itself entitled to withdraw or amend their declaration regarding the Suez Canal. The British decision to call for another Security Council meeting would depend on the Egyptian response. Shaw interpreted this statement to mean that Great Britain would use a favorable response to justify another Security Council meeting. Also on May 3, Bailey told Shaw that monetary discussions with the National Bank of Egypt were scheduled to begin on Sunday morning, May 5, in Basel, and that another meeting of the SCUA Council would be called for May 7 or 8. (Memorandum of conversation by Shaw, May 3; ibid., 974.7301/5–357)
317. Telegram From the President’s Special Assistant (Richards) to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 120.1580/4–1957. Secret. Repeated to London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Afghanistan, Beirut, Tehran, Karachi, Ankara, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Amman, Damascus, Cairo, Athens, Rabat, Tunis, Rome, New Delhi, Moscow, Warsaw, Kabul, and Jidda.
318. Memorandum of a Conversation, Prime Minister Mollet’s Office, Hotel Matignon, Paris, May 6, 1957, Noon
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.51/5–657. Secret. Drafted by Tyler. Dulles and his party stopped in Paris en route from Bonn to Washington.
320. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Murphy) to the Director of the Executive Secretariat (Howe)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.5280/5–857. Secret; No Distribution. Notes attached to the source text indicate that Howe solicited these comments from Murphy on May 6 and that Howe transmitted the memorandum printed here together with Document 314 (and its enclosure).
321. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, May 9, 1957
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 980.74/5–957. Confidential. Drafted by Sherwood. Azzam Pasha also discussed the Gulf of Aqaba situation with Herter on May 9. The memorandum of conversation by Rockwell is ibid.
322. Memorandum From the Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs (Wilkins) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Rountree)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.74/5–957. Top Secret; Omega. Drafted by Stabler.
323. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Wilcox) to the Under Secretary of State (Herter)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 320.511/5–1057. Confidential. Drafted by Gamon. The following officers concurred in the memorandum: Rountree, Robert J. McCollum (ORM) in substance, Louis E. Frechtling (U/MSA), Elmer M. Falk (IO/OIA) in draft, O’Connor (H), and Edward J. Rowell (IO/OES) in substance. Although the source text indicates that O’Connor wrote a memorandum on the subject appended as Tab B, the document is not attached to the source text.
324. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Rountree) to the Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 980.74/5–1057. Secret. Drafted by Newsom on May 10. The source text bears the handwritten notation: “Sec has seen”. Tabs A, B, and C are not attached to the source text.
325. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 974.7301/5–1157. Confidential. Drafted by Shaw and approved by Dillon who signed for Dulles. Repeated to Cairo.