Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

NLT(NAVAL #IDE) 317 A OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE DECLASSIFIED WASHINGTON State By DEB NLT, Date 9-9-85 Dept. E.O. 12065, Guidelines, Sec. March 3-402 6, 1982 January 22, 1952 TOP SECRET SECURITY INF ORMATION SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS EGYPT Our Embassy in Cairo has reported that even American press agencies are obtaining conflicting stories from the Suez Canal Zone concerning the responsibility for the death of the American nun, Sister Anthony. Ambassador Caffery states that he is unable to ex- press a definite opinion until he receives the results of an investigation now being made by two of our Consuls. EUROPEAN DEFENSE Secretary Acheson has sent a personal message COMMUNITY to Belgian Foreign Minister Van Zeeland express- ing our hope that the Foreign Minister do every- - thing possible to meet the modifications in the European Defense Force Plan which the larger European nations have proposed in order to meet the objections of the Benelux countries. The Belgian representative to the Paris conference on the EDC has informed us that he has drafted his own instructions prepara- tory to returning to Paris and has received what he describes as 90% approval on the question of a common budget for the EDF. The missing 10% refers to his government's refusal to give a commitment to provide a irreducible minimum contribution to the budget. He said it would be highly imprudent for the Belgian Government to try to put through Parliament a treaty containing a clause committing a future Parliament to appropriate money, which seemed clearly unconstitutional. He added that the Dutch are also firmly opposed to such a commitment in the treaty. The Belgian concessions on the budget are contingent on the acceptance of the Belgian position on political questions. The Belgians will not accept the name "high authority" for the Executive of the EDF. The representative said he had obtained from his Minis - ters more than he had hoped for and if the French are reasonable he thinks he can reach an agreement. He seems genuinely optimistic but realizes he has his work cut out for him and requested that we urge the French to be reasonable. Ambassador Murphy strongly recommends that Ambassador Bruce be authorized to talk to the French and urge them to make every effort to compose the differences. TOP SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION