BRITISH EMBASSY,
                                    WASHINGTON, D.C.
BY SAFE HAND
                                   October 18, 1941.
Ref: 3425/2/41
 
 
My dear We!les,
 
                
 
        I have been asked to give you the following 
message from Sir Alexander Carlogan:-
 
        'We are considering the early publication of a 
declaration to the effect that after the war the 
Senussis in Cyrenaica shall in no circumstances again 
fall under Italian domination.
 
        "The Senussis have suffered much from 
Italian oppression during the last twenty years. Soon after 
the collapse of France, a British Senussi force 
was raised from Senussi exiles, which performed valuable 
ancillary duties in Cyrenaica and is still serving in 
the western desert. Their offer of service with us 
was made unconditionally but lately they have endeavoured 
to extract some undertaking from us as to their future status.
 
        "The above is, we feel, all that we can say at the 
moment. I feel bound to tell you, as this declaration 
might be represented as a commitment."
 
          Yours very sincerely,
 
               HALIFAX
 
The Honourable
     Sumner Welles,
          Under-Secretary of State of the United States,
               Washington, D.C.