THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 25 FEBRUARY 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993159
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: February 25, 1972

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/06/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A010400240001-5
The President's Daily Brief
25 February 1972
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
25 February 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Israel's strong retaliation to the latest fedayeen
raids along the Lebanese border creates problems for
Beirut. (Page 1)
The Greeks and President Makarios continue to wait
each other out. (Page 2)
The Argentine justice minister tells us there has
been a major breakthrough in negotiations with Juan
Peron. (Page 3)
(Page 4)
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ISRAEL LEBANON
Israel has retaliated promptly and vigorously
for the killing of two Israeli civilians by fedayeen
along the Lebanese border on Wednesday. On Friday
Israeli troops, supported by armor
and artillery, occupied three villages in southern
Lebanon. Houses were destroyed, and some prisoners
were taken. At the same time, Israeli aircraft at-
tacked fedayeen bases on the slopes of Mount Hermon
near the junction of the Lebanese, Syrian, and Is-
raeli frontiers. Also,/ Israeli aircraft
overflew Beirut
All of the villages attacked by the Is-
raelis are known to harbor fedayeen, and
strikes of this kind follow a well-estab-
lished Israeli pattern. Overflights of
the Lebanese capital are unusual, however,
and are intended to point up to the Leb-
anese their vulnerability and to stimulate
greater Lebanese efforts to control the
fedayeen.
The Israeli action comes at a bad time
for Lebanon, where a parliamentary elec-
tion campaign is just getting under way.
Beirut again faces the dilemma of choos-
ing between trying to limit fedayeen ac-
tivities--and risking a clash with them--
or allowing the fedayeen to operate across
the border--and inviting Israeli reprisals.
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CYPRUS
The Greeks and President Makarios are waiting
each other out. Greece's demands for Makarios'
resignation and governmental changes still stand,
but Prime Minister Papadopoulos seems to be shift-
ing his tactical pressure to stress a need for
quarantining the Archbishop's newly acquired Czech
arms.
Papadopoulos hinted that Greece Was try-
ing to get the support of Glafcos derides, the
head of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives,
as part of its effort to force out Makarios.
/[-C1 erides subsequently told a US diplomat
that there must be an
"alternative" to Makarios, and that no man is "in-
dispensable."
Clerides is not yet making a bid for
the presidency of Cyprus, but he clearly
is keeping his options open for suggest-
ing himself as an alternative to Makarios.
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ARGENTINA
Justice Minister Quijano has told Ambassador
Lodge that there has been a major breakthrough in
negotiations with Juan Peron. He said that the Ar-
gentine ambassador to Spain had carried a message
to President Lanusse last weekend in which Peron
renounced any desire for the presidency and stated
that he would accept a military man as the next
president. Quijano also reported that there was a
strong likelihood that Lanusse would soon visit
Spain at the invitation of President Franco so that
he could personally conclude the agreement with
Peron.
Lanusse's tactic has ?been to try to divide
the Peronist movement--the largest elec-
toral bloc in the country?while keeping
the door open for an arrangement with
Peron. Peron has a reputation for double
dealing, and the military is wary of him,
but they draw confidence from his appar-
ent inability to reunite his movement and
his advanced age (78).
The military is firmly opposed to any.
Peronist resumption of power, but may be
willing to provide financial assistance
to the former dictator and to "rehabili-
tate his image" in exchange for his co-
operation. Even if Peron agrees to re-
nounce any personal ambition for the
presidency, Lanusse and the Peronists
must still find a mutually acceptable
candidate before elections can be held.
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NOTES
USSR:
Japan-USSR: The semi-official Japan-Soviet Eco-
nomic Committee has agreed to begin serious study for
the joint development of West Siberian oil resources
and the construction of a 2,670-mile pipeline to the
Sea of Japan. In May the Japanese will send a mixed
government and industry team for on-site inspection
of the Tyumen oil field, the first time the Soviets
will have permitted them a close look at the area.
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Top Secret
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