Text of message from the Prime Minister to President Nixon:

"Dear Mr President,

Thank you for the message of good wishes on my
assumption of office, which was delivered to me by
Ambassador Annenberg. I can assure you that the Labour
Government will attach a high priority to maintaining,
and indeed improving, the close and friendly relationship
we have with the Government of the United States, which I
regard as an essential component of the external policy
of this country in many fields. I look forward to
co-operation with you and your Government to this end.

Text of message from the Prime Minister to the Secretary of State, The Honorable Henry A Kissinger:

"Dear Henry,

I am grateful to you for your kind message. As I have written in my reply to the President, you will find this Government firmly committed to maintaining, and indeed improving, the close and friendly relationship with the United States. I am sure that there is much we can do together in tackling common problems, and you will find that Jim Callaghan will approach his consultations with you in just this spirit.

I am sorry that the election campaign prevented me from meeting you during your last visit, and I hope we shall have an opportunity to see each other before long.

Text of message from Secretary of State Mr James Callaghan MP
to Secretary of State Kissinger.

"I am delighted that my appointment as Foreign and
Commonwealth Secretary means that I shall be working closely
with you on the many important issues which face us in the
world today. Good Anglo-American relations mean a great
deal to me. I much look forward to seeing you before too
long and meanwhile send my best wishes. It will be
interesting to hear through Peter Ramsbotham how you got
on recently in the Middle East and what you think the
prospects are."

[LC]

THE MIDDLE EAST : THE POSITION OF THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT

A spokesman of the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, making clear that he was speaking officially and on instructions, has told the British Ambassador in Damascus that the Syrian Government "absolutely insisted" that the United Kingdom should take part in any peace conference. He added that the Syrian Government would also want France and the European Community to be represented.

The British Government also believe that the Arab Summit Meeting at Algiers will consider a draft Resolution to be put before the Security Council, incorporating this same point and proposing that the UK and France should be delegated by the Security Council to represent Europe at a peace conference at which there would also be African representation. There are indications that the Egyptian Government may support this proposal, as well as the Syrians.

In view of the difficulties which the formal adoption of such a position could cause, the British Ambassador in Damascus has been instructed to speak to the Syrian Government on the following lines:

The British Government's overriding concern is to maintain the momentum towards a full settlement of the Arab/Israeli dispute. Hence, they believe that the negotiations must start without delay. They would be glad to participate but would not wish to do anything which might impede the start of negotiations. They believe that the negotiations should be linked to the Security Council, but they also believe that *insistence on the presence of all Permanent Members, not to speak of other groups of States, would be bound to create controversy and that the conference would not get off the ground*. One way of getting round this would be to involve the Secretary-General, who has a mandate under Resolution 242, as the link with the United Nations. Hence, the British Government think that a Security Council Resolution on the lines that the Syrian Government apparently have in mind would be very likely to create a deadlock.

20 November 1973

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Washington, D. C. 20520

Special Assistant to the Secretary

Received in Sec's [LC]
immediate office 10/3/73

FROM:
THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF CROMER
KCMG. MBE. PC.

BRITISH EMBASSY
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20008

TELEPHONE: (202) 462-1340

PERSONAL

The Honorable
Henry A Kissinger
State Department
Washington DC

3 October 1973

I enclose a letter, written on his last day in the Public Service, which Burke Trend has asked me to pass on to you. I for one will certainly miss the wisdom that he has so often contributed in our domestic and international affairs.

I very much hope to see you before you set off for Europe and my office is in touch with your people. It is, I think, of high importance that we get our procedural arrangements worked out to our mutual satisfaction. The European Community is beginning to grow up and perhaps to grow up more rapidly than was expected. Adolescence is perhaps the most difficult period in life, probably both for the adolescent and those who have to deal with him!

(Message from Prime Minister)

Dear Henry,

Thank you for your letter informing me of your
decision to stay in Washington in the next week.
As it happens I had not heard of this when we spoke
on the telephone last night.

I am disappointed that we shall not have an
opportunity to see you in London, but of course I
fully understand the reasons. I hope we shall see
you here again before long.

With warm personal regards,

Edward Heath

(Message from Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs)

"Thank you for your letter to say that you would
not be able to come this weekend.

"I quite understand and indeed I myself have had
to cancel a visit to Vienna next week. But I look
forward to seeing you soon and to continuing our
discussions: also to keeping in the closest touch
over the situation in the Middle East."

10 Downing Street
Whitehall

24 October 1973

You will have heard from Dr. Kissinger that Lord Cromer has decided that for personal reasons the time has come when he must give up his post in Washington. I should have liked him to stay longer and I know that he will be sorry to leave Washington where he has always been received with every kindness and courtesy, both in the White House and in the State Department. But he has commitments at home and we have therefore felt obliged, though with much regret, to accept his decision. There is of course no political significance in his departure and we shall wish to make this abundantly clear when the time comes for an announcement.

I have been at pains to find a successor of exceptional ability and judgment, capable of sustaining the vitally close relationship between us, to which I attach such importance. My choice is Sir Peter Ramsbotham, at present our Ambassador in Tehran. We shall be seeking formal *agréement* for him shortly. I have known him well for a long time and I have a high regard for him, and in particular for his intellectual attainments, as one of our outstanding diplomats. He worked very closely with me when I was Lord Privy Seal at the Foreign Office in the early sixties, carrying on the first negotiations