Office of the Historian

11. Memorandum From Secretary of State Vance to President Carter1

Washington, June 10, 1977

[Omitted here is material unrelated to the continental shelf dispute.]

5. Tunisia/Libya: Tunisian Ambassador Hedda has just informed the Department that the Tunisian and Libyan governments today have signed an agreement to submit the continental shelf dispute to the International Court of Justice.2 Ambassador Hedda also conveyed the gratitude of his government for the sympathetic support of the USG which was, in his words, indispensable in bringing about this first but essential step towards a negotiated and peaceful solution of this matter. Ambassador Hedda alluded to a secret agreement between the two governments which would allow the American-owned drilling rig to continue working for an unspecified period of time. According to Charles Thornton, the President of the American company involved, the Libyan authorities have told him that his drilling rig would be able to finish its current work. We are hopeful that the agreement will [Page 22] stick. In any event, the immediate crisis has ended with all concerned apparently satisfied.

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 18, Evening Reports (State): 6/77. Secret. Carter initialed the memorandum and wrote “Cy” in the upper right-hand corner.↩
  2. Carter wrote “C” in the left-hand margin next to this sentence.↩