SPA Files: Lot 55D323
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Associate Chief of the Division of International Security Affairs (Blaisdell)
Subject: Withdrawal of Forces from UN Members’ Territories.
| Participants: | Mr. N. J. Henderson, Second Secretary of the British Embassy |
| Mr. D.C. Blaisdell, IS | |
| Mr. J. E. Johnson, IS |
At his request, Mr. Henderson called on me today and inquired about our intentions regarding the publication of agreements giving the consent of the governments concerned in UN Member territories where U.S. forces were stationed. I asked Mr. J. E. Johnson to join the conference.
Mr. Henderson stated that Mr. Lewis Clark of the American Embassy had discussed this matter with Mr. Jebb of the Foreign Office. It was his understanding that the U.S. proposed to proceed along the lines outlined by Mr. Clark in his discussion with Mr. Jebb. I replied that that was correct; that while we understood the British might feel that a precedent was being set by the course which the U.S. was following, a precedent which the U.K. might be forced to follow, nevertheless, we felt that it was desirable for the U.S. to comply strictly with the UN GA resolution of December 14, 1946 on this subject. Mr. Johnson referred to a message received from the American Embassy in London stating that the British would not object.
Mr. Henderson said that Mr. Johnson’s statement was not strictly in accord with their information.
Mr. Johnson and I undertook to answer certain questions put to us by Mr. Henderson:
What form would these agreements take? (An exchange of notes or a joint communiqué);
Would information on numbers of forces be included? (No);
[Page 615]How many instances were involved? (We did not give the exact number but indicated there may be as many as ten or a dozen) 5
Would they be “published”? (Yes, and in the case of an exchange of notes they would be registered with the UN pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter);
Was it proposed to publish them simultaneously? (No);
When was it likely that the agreements in question would be completed and published? (Difficult to say, but possibly some of them within the next month or six weeks, that is, before the convening of the General Assembly on September 16).
I gathered from the nature of Mr. Henderson’s questions that the British had not received a completely accurate understanding of our policy. He did not request any change in it and I gather that the purpose of his visit was to obtain fuller information about our course of action and report it to London.