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CONFIDENTIAL respects correctly and had protected the British community as agreed with the Ugandans, and insisting that the French should have the right to continue to protect British interests. The Ambassador added that, even in the light of President Amin's request, he still regarded the British Interests Section staff as members of his Mission and in this respect enjoyed his protection and diplomatic immunity. The Ugandan Foreign Minister did not oppose this view but pressed for the re-attachment of the BIS to another Embassy in Kampala. The French Ambassador also asked for consular access to the arrested British subject (on the assumption that this was other than Mr Scanlon) and said that when granted he would send a member of the BIS to visit him. The French have, however, now told us that they feel they have no choice but to comply with the Ugandan demand. We consider that this is a perfectly reasonable attitude: international law is quite clear that the agreement of the host country is necessary for a protection arrangement of this kind. Despite this development, we have asked the French whether they can see their way to making informal enquiries about Mr Scanlon in view of his British origins, his family in Kampala, who are still UK citizens, and his relatives in this country. We do not yet know whether the French will be able to act in this way for us but our own interests section are in touch with the family and doing what they can for them. We now have to consider what alternative arrangements we should make for the protection of our interests in Uganda. The options are (a) to ask another Western European power to act for us (in practice only the Italians are available and they are likely to be considerably less effective, than the French even if they were willing); (b) to approach a non-European power, perhaps Saudi Arabia; or (c) to conclude that there is no purpose to be served by representation in Uganda at this juncture and to withdraw our staff. If we wished to act firmly on the issue, we could also reciprocate against the Ugandan Interests Section in the Saudi Arabian Embassy here. Dr Owen wishes to give these options careful consideration and will advise the Prime Minister as soon as possible after the weekend. In the meantime, the French have assured us that their communications remain available to us if we need to contact the British Interests Section in Kampala; and we are sure the French will continue to give their hospitality to our two staff until we can make alternative arrangements. (J. S. Wall) CONFIDENTIAL