88. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rogers to President Nixon1 2
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT - Evening Report
1. United States Action in International Civil Aviation Organization Regarding Aviation Security - In view of the Lod Airport massacre in Tel Aviv and the recent hijacking of a U.S. aircraft to Algeria, the United States has introduced a resolution in the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) calling for the resumption of work on an international convention to provide for sanctions against Governments which fail to prosecute or extradite hijackers. This resolution will be considered by the ICAO Council on June 16. Although only last month the Legal Committee of ICAO voted to suspend work on a sanctions convention, our Embassies in most of the other ICAO Council member States, including the USSR, are endeavoring at high levels to obtain support for our proposal. We are hopeful that the recent incidents will spur sufficient support for our proposal to be adopted tomorrow. We are also making efforts to obtain a consensus statement at the UN Security Council which would back up our efforts in ICAO.
The International Federation of Airline Pilots Association has called for a strike on June 19 unless in the meantime action has been taken by the UN and ICAO on aviation security.
We are continuing to press the Algerians to prosecute the hijackers and return the ransom money from the recent Western Airlines hijacking.
[Omitted here are two paragraphs unrelated to Global Issues]