890D.00/2–2349
The Secretary of State to the Legation in Transjordan
No. 3
The Secretary of State refers to the Legation’s despatch No. 12 of February 23, 1949,1 reporting the counsel of Samir Rifai Pasha to King Abdullah regarding this Government’s attitude toward the Greater Syria problem, and requesting the Department’s guidance in the matter.
For the Legation’s information, officers of the Department discussed the Greater Syria issue informally with Samir Pasha in the course, of his visit to Washington in January 1949. Although the subject was discussed only briefly, occasion was taken to make it as clear as possible that the Department was concerned over the ambitions of King Abdullah to create a Greater Syria encompassing the territories of neighboring states and that this Government looked with disfavor upon such a scheme. It is apparent from the Legation’s despatch under reference that Samir Pasha has either misunderstood or has distorted the Department’s views in his counsel to King Abdullah.
It is true, of course, that it is a fundamental principle of our national policy to respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live. Similarly, this Government does not look with favor upon territorial changes that do not accord with the expressed wishes of the peoples concerned. From careful consideration of the Greater Syria plan as envisaged by King Abdullah, however, it would appear that there is insufficient basis to support the contention that such a plan would be “a spontaneous development springing from the will of the people.” As it is the Department’s opinion that under these circumstances King Abdullah’s attempts to further his proposal for the creation of a Greater Syria are a disturbing factor in the Arab Near East, the Government of Transjordan would be in error to believe that the Department in any sense, tacit or otherwise, either favors or condones the scheme.
The Officer in Charge should take suitable opportunity to make the Department’s views known to King Abdullah and to Samir Rifai Pasha in a manner which, while as tactful as possible, should serve to remove any further misconceptions regarding our attitude toward this issue.
- Not printed.↩