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operations. He pointed out that the dissidents head not planned their
defense around the Pakanbaru area because of the threat to the civiljan operatives in the oil installations, and furthermore, that neither
side wished to be deprived of the revenues which flowed from the oil
installations.
Meanwhile, said Mr. Dulles, there had been apparently no
progress toward a settlement of the civil strife in Indonesia. Not
only was there no agreement between Sukarno and Hatta; he had a recent report that Hatta had been put under house surveillance.
There was no doubt that the military action of the Djakarta
Government had been positive and vigorous. The position of the dissidents, while precarious, was not yet hopeless. The Djakarta Government's control of the air above Sumatra might prove to be crucial.
Moreover, the Air Force of the Djakarte Government was the branch of
the armed forces most heavily infiltrated by the Commnists.
The Djakerta Government, said Mr. Dulles, had recently issued a statement from the Indonesian Army which indicated awareness
of weapons and ammunition drops, although the foreign country which
was the source of these weapons had not been specified.
Mr. Dulles repeated that the situation for the dissidents
was critical. If Sukarno succeeded in knocking them out quickly, it
would be ea feather in Sukarno's cap and in that of the Comnunists.
While Sukarno himself was almost certainly not a Communist, he was
becoming more end more a prisoner of the Communist Party.
The President inquired whether the United States would have
a lawful right to intervene with force in Sumatra if the Djakarta
forees seized the o11 installations. Secretary Herter replied that
if these installations were seized by the Djakarta Government with a
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ae
promise of compensation, there would be no right under international
law for U. S. intervention. On the other hand, if the lives of American citizens were threatened, we could lawfully intervene. Mr. Dulles commented that the lives of American citizens do not seem to be
in any immediate danger in this area.
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rights.
Mr. Dulles went on to state that Bourguiba had, according
to a recent report in the press, given the French a seven-day ultimatum to withdraw their troops from all of Tunisia. There had also
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In North Africa, Mr. Dulles said, the situation wes somewhat more tense than last week. He indicated he would not go into
the story of Mr. Murphy's mission, but said that Bourguiba had apparentiy been vastly irritated by the French note to him indicating
the French belief that an agreement made several years ago was still
in effect and therefore supported French control of Tunisia's foreign affairs and defense. Secretary Herter said that the State Department could find no legal basis for this French claim of treaty
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