Office of the Historian

247. Paper Agreed Upon at the Conference at Bermuda1

Bermuda, March 23, 1957.

5. REPORT BY WORKING COMMITTEE ON THE GULF OF AQABA2

The Committee agreed that the legal positions of the two Governments, though somewhat differently expressed, were broadly identical in substance.

Questions that remained to be decided were:

(a)
how to coordinate the views of other Maritime Powers;
(b)
how to establish the legal position permanently;
(c)
how to maintain freedom of transit through the Straits of Tiran in the meantime.

The Committee agreed to recommend that the two Governments should consult through diplomatic channels the Governments of other Maritime Powers including the following:

  • Denmark
  • France
  • Italy
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Sweden

to coordinate their views on:

(a)
procedure for obtaining either an advisory opinion or a decision by the International Court; and
(b)
means to be adopted for preserving freedom of passage pending the opinion or judgment of the Court.

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 868. Secret.↩
  2. According to the memorandum of conversation, Lloyd and Dulles exchanged further views on the Aqaba paper during the 10:30 a.m. meeting on March 23. They also agreed that it might be desirable to seek an advisory opinion or a decision from the International Court of Justice. (Ibid., CF 861) The memorandum of conversation is scheduled for publication in volume XXVII.↩