Office of the Historian

611. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, September 7, 1965.

SUBJECT

  • South African Foreign Minister’s Reply to Secretary’s Note on Four Officer Situation

PARTICIPANTS

  • The Secretary
  • His Excellency Harold L. T. Taswell, Ambassador of South Africa
  • Pierson M. Hall, AFE

Ambassador Taswell said he had a verbal message from Foreign Minister Muller to deliver. The Foreign Minister wished to express his thanks for the Secretary’s Note regarding the four officers2 and said it remained his earnest desire that there be no cause for further trouble. The Foreign Minister would like to leave it there. He had approached the problem in a friendly manner and certainly desired no publicity. He was sorry the USG had not been more responsive. South Africa wanted friendly relations with the U.S. but, if there was any further trouble, more drastic steps would have to be taken.

The Secretary asked if the Foreign Minister would be going to New York for the General Assembly. The Ambassador said he would attend part of the session and is expected to reach New York about September 23. The Secretary said he might take up the matter with Foreign Minister at that time. He was not sure he understood the full implications of the Foreign Minister’s message as conveyed by the Ambassador. Ambassador Taswell replied, the intent of the message was as follows: if there was any more difficulty with the officers in question, his government would have to declare them persona non grata with, he supposed, attendant and unfortunate publicity. The Secretary said if it should come to that, he would prefer formal to informal action. The Secretary then thanked the Ambassador for the Foreign Minister’s message and ended the interview.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, DEF 15 S AFR–US. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Hall on September 8 and approved in S on September 21.↩
  2. See Document 608. Telegram 206 to Pretoria, August 9, transmitted a message to Foreign Minister Muller from Secretary Rusk stating that he had found no evidence of improper conduct on the part of the four U.S. Foreign Service officers concerned and was satisfied that they had performed their official duties in accordance with normal and accepted practice for conduct of diplomatic representatives. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 15–1 S AFR)↩