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HOUSE OF COMMONS DEFENCE COMMITTEE VISIT TO US BASES
Comm. Dec
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Thomas 9/10.
1. The Clerk to the Defence Committee telephoned yesterday evening about their arrangements for the tour. He began by saying that as matters stood, the Committee were expecting to extend their stay in Oman for an extra two days until 28 November to look over the naval base and the Straits of Hormuz. Although this was being done at the suggestion of the Omanis, the extension had not yet been confirmed nor a programme agreed. The Clerk is collecting the Committee members' passports and will send them and the visa application forms to MED for a covering letter, as agreed.
2.
Mr Rogers moved on to the problems surrounding Diego Garcia. He wanted to give us a quiet warning that the Committee members were furious at the turn of events, that Mr Speed felt particularly riled that his word was being put in question and that members would not be calmed easily. said that if that anger was directed at the FCO, then I could assure him that it was misdirected. He was happy to hear that, but felt that unless we could convince the Committee our relations with the Committee were bound to suffer.
I
CODE 18-77
3. Mr Rogers said that it was a matter of some irritation that the Embassy had not sparked earlier to galvanise the Americans into action, although he did conceed that hindsight was always 20/20. What had also galled them was the terms of the letter from Mr Harris of the US Embassy dated 10 September, which did not address the real concerns of the Committee and was predicated on a distorted view of the Committee's contacts with Secretary Lehman. And finally, what was most startling of all was the allegation that the Embassy in Washington were pressing State to sabotage the tour. I told him that this was just not true, that our position had always been clear to the Americans, and it remained that we had no objections to the visit if the US invitation still stood. I also said that it was
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