THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 12 SEPTEMBER 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977678
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 12, 1970

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The President's Daily Brief
12 September 1970
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
12 September 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Middle East developments are discussed on Page 1.
Peking/
/ (Page 3)
Ambassador Habib's talk with Cambodian Government
representative Son Sann is discussed on Page 5.
The bill to permit President Thieu to take special
action on economic matters is expected to reach the
Senate floor next week. (Page 7)
In Chile, the Popular Unity forces are moving to con-
solidate their position. (Page 8)
Z(Page 10)
In Laos, Communist forces are reacting more strongly
to yang Pao's rainy season offensive. (Page 11)
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MIDDLE EAST
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP) may be backing off from its agreement last
evening to have all passengers from the hijacked planes
brought to Amman where they would be placed under the
protection of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO). According to late press reports the PFLP is
now willing to let only 60 women and children leave
the planes. A delegation from the PLO central com?
mittee which went to the landing strip last night to
bring in the hostages was said to have been turned
back by the PFLP, whose leaders are meeting at the
airstrip this morning. The proposal to transfer all
passengers to Amman was made originally yesterday
morning by the central committee of the PLO, with
which the PFLP is loosely associated. According to
the PLO announcement the proposal was made for humani-
tarian reasons and to stave off foreign intervention
in Jordan under pretext of rescuing the hostages.
The PLO--with or without the concurrence of the
PFLP--has publicly announced a new offer for the re-
lease of the hostages. In return for a pledge by
West Germany, Switzerland, and Britain to free the
seven commandos they now hold, the PLO would release
all passengers with the exception of Israelis "with
military status." The three aircraft and their crews
would be released when the commandos actually arrive
in any Arab country. The remaining Israeli passen-
gers would be kept in Amman until Israel agreed to
free a number--to be negotiated--of fedayeen impris-
oned in Israel. Representatives of the five govern-
ments involved met in Bern yesterday to consider the
latest fedayeen proposal, but have adopted no final
position.
Meanwhile, 66 of the women and children allowed
off the planes earlier in the week--about 40 of them
Americans--were evacuated from Amman to Cyprus yes-
terday. According to Red Cross representative Rochat,
the PFLP concurred in their evacuation with no condi-
tions attached. About 60 additional women and
children remain to be evacuated, presumably some time
today. A group of 22 passengers from the BOAC plane
brought into Amman on 10 September also departed
Jordan privately yesterday; a second BOAC group of
about the same size arrived in Amman on Friday.
(continued)
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The Jordanian Government hastold the PFLP that
once the hostages arrive in Amman they willbe under
the jurisdiction and control of Jordanian authorities,
who will proceed with their evacuation. According
to Zaid Rifai, the chief of the Jordanian royal
court, the government made it clear that if the feda-
yeen carried out their threat to blow up the air-
craft and the passengers, Jordan would undertake a
"wholesale assault" upon the fedayeen movement. It
is not clear whether the government and the fedayeen
have,succeeded in ironing out the problem of the
custody of the hostages.
Amman has been generally quiet since the an-
nouncement of the latest cease-fire last Thursday,
although there are reports of occasional gunfire.
Joint fedayeen and Jordanian Army patrols have been
circulating throughout the city calling upon people
to resume their normal aCtivities.
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COMMUNIST CHINA
(continued)
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Current Situation
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106
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CHINA SEA
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CAMBODIA
Government troops, now about 15 miles from Skoun
on the road to Kompong Thom, have met their first
significant enemy resistance. Air strikes were
called in on a Communist force dug in near the gov-
ernment column. Elements of the Viet Cong 275th
Regiment may be involved in this action.
Ambassador Habib saw Son Sann, a former prime
minister and long one of Sihanouk's top advisers,
in Paris Wednesday. Sann confirmed
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is in Paris as an "unofficial" representative of the
Lon Nol government to make "soundings" on the pos-
sibility of a peaceful settlement.
Sann indicated that Lon Nol has him on a short
leash, however. In an interview prior to his de-
parture from Phnom Penh, Lon Nol instructed him to
make no commitments that would "weaken their posi-
tion" and prohibited him from making direct contact
with the Chinese Communists or the Vietnamese Commu-
nists. Sann's statements indicate that Lon Nol is
still holding to the line that all foreign forces
must vacate Cambodian territory, a position that
contributed to the breakdown in talks with the Com-
munists just after Sihanouk's ouster. It is not
clear from Sann's remarks if his "soundings" are to
determine whether the Communists are now ready to
throw in the towel, or whether they indicate that
Lon Nol may be more acc9mmodating than he was last
April. Sann told Habib that he intended to get in
touch with Russian Ambassador Zorin and would make
indirect soundings with the Vietnamese Communists in
Paris through some of Sann's contacts.
Sann also said he had hopes of getting in touch
with his old friend Penn Nouth, who is now Sihanouk's
"prime minister."
Sann told Habib that
Nouth had invited him to Communist China for dis-
cussions. He said, however, that Lon Nol had vetoed
a trip there. Sann apparently still hopes that some
reconciliation between Sihanouk and Lon Nol is pos-
sible, but he clearly does not rate the chances as
good.
(continued)
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On a personal basis, Sann expressed grief over
the effects of the war on Cambodia. He said he had
concluded that an effort had to be made to bring a
cease-fire to the countryside. He expressed concern
that Lon Nol was overly optimistic about the mili-
tary prospects and was reluctant to look for some
political way out. He gave no indication, however,
that his sentiments were shared by any of the top
leaders in Phnom Penh.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
The bill to permit Thieu to take special actions
in the critical economic field is expected to reach
the Senate floor next week, but in emasculated form.
The Upper House finance committee has eliminated all
of its provisions except the "parallel market" re-
form, which would in effect result in a partial de-
valuation of the piaster by authorizing a dual ex-
change rate.
The Upper House probably will approve the com-
mittee's version by 26 September
The Lower House has approved a
broader measure. The US Embassy expects that both
it and President Thieu will accept the Upper House
bill without changes.
Thieu had indicated that, if necessary,
he would yield on his request for other
special powers in order to get the Na-
tional Assembly behind him on such a po-
tentially unpopular measure as a partial
devaluation.
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CHILE
The Communist Party is moving to extend its
power in key areas and to intimidate actual or poten-
tial opponents. The Communists are using their con-
trol of most of the 8,000 local Popular Unity com-
mittees organized to support Allende's campaign.
They have already asserted their influence in many
TV and radio stations, communications facilities,
and universities. More or less specific threats
have been made against influential publishers. A
mass rally this weekend to celebrate Allende's vic-
tory may be a part of this intimidation process.
Allende, on the other hand, has adopted a more
soothing line. He is probably aware that reaction
against heavy-handed tactics could jeopardize his
progress toward the presidency. In a nationwide
address on Wednesday he praised the armed forces
and national police and their dedication to consti-
tutional obligations.
Leaders of both the military and the large
Christian Democratic Party fear that a reversal of
the Allende victory would set off extensive and pos-
sibly uncontrollable violence. This fear also af-
fects their attitude toward plans to thwart Allende
through congressional maneuvers.
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EGYPT
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EGYPT USSR
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NOTES
Laos: Communist forces are now reacting more
strongly to yang Pao's rainy season operations west
of the Plaine des Jarres. On 10 September two enemy
battalions dislodged government-guerrillas from key
terrain positions they had just occupied near the
Communist-controlled town of Muong Soui. Several days
earlier, two North Vietnamese companies drove another
group of guerrillas from San Luang, a town southwest
of Muong Soui that had been captured by the govern-
ment early this month./
IsraelK
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Top Secret
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