100. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Minister of the British Embassy (Lord Hood) and the Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs (Rockwell), Department of State, Washington, June 20, 19581
SUBJECT
- Lebanon
Lord Hood this morning brought over a message from Selwyn Lloyd in which the Foreign Secretary suggested that the US and UK urgently recommend to President Chamoun that he request of Mr. Hammarskjold that a UN force for Lebanon be established. If Mr. Hammarskjold were to recommend such action to the Security Council, Mr. Lloyd believed there would be a much better chance of getting a favorable SC attitude. The UN force would not have any representatives of the major powers but would be utilized to carry out police action. This procedure would eliminate the need for US and UK intervention. Mr. Lloyd requested the Secretary’s urgent reaction.
The Secretary was consulted and believed that this step would be unwise. He felt that it might give President Chamoun the idea that we were trying to evade our commitments or possibly that this was merely a prior formality which he would have to undergo in advance of requesting our intervention. The Secretary also said that he did not [Page 165] want to approach Chamoun without first discussing the matter with the Secretary General and he believed the Secretary General had this type of idea very much in mind already.
I later conveyed the above conversation with the Secretary to Mr. Weir of the British Embassy, Lord Hood being absent in New York.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 783A.00/6–2058. Top Secret. Drafted by Rockwell.↩