Cablegram 760 LONDON, 24 February 1949, 8.27 p.m.
CONFIDENTIAL
INDONESIA
I gather that the latest Beel proposal [1] which will be announced on Saturday will include the suggestion that transfer of sovereignty should take place on 1st May, 1949 and that United Nations Commission and President of the Republic should come to The Hague to negotiate to this end.
2. Initial United Kingdom reaction is that proposal is very foolish rather than sinister and is bound to get short shrift from the Security Council. Quite apart from Republican opposition the United Kingdom both here and at The Hague has been insisting with the Dutch that nothing short of compliance with the Security Council resolution [2] will be accepted.
3. Reports here from Batavia indicate more Federalist support for Security Council resolution and further reduction of their differences with the Republicans.
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1 See Document 239.
2 Document 168.
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[AA : A1838, 403/3/1/1, xxi]