 Meanwhile , Stewart and Ross argued with Nogueira and the Portuguese chargé d 'affaires in London , José Manuel de Villas @-@ Boas de Vasconcellos Faria . On 8 September , Nogueira said the Portuguese were accepting Reedman as a Rhodesian representative , but were not defining his status as they wished to remain neutral in what they regarded as an exclusively Anglo @-@ Rhodesian problem . So far as he could see , Nogueira said , Portugal had done no harm to British interests . Stewart firmly told Nogueira that Britain expected Portugal to make a statement within 24 hours saying that it would not deal with Reedman while he remained off the British Embassy staff . Nogueira replied that his government was not going to accord official diplomatic recognition to Reedman , and that Dupont understood this . Ross now threatened to involve NATO if Portugal did not thoroughly explain its conduct . Unmoved , Nogueira said this surprised him ; if the British were so keen to have Reedman on the staff at their embassy , he answered , that was down to them . Portugal was totally neutral in the affair , he insisted . 
