THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 19 DECEMBER 1973

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007626
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 19, 1973

Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00936A011900010016-8
The President's Daily Brief
19 December 1973
45
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Exempt from general
declassification scliedule of E.O. 11652
exemption categorY 58(
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
December 19, 1973
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Syria's refusal to attend the Geneva Middle East
peace conference which begins Friday heightens
chances for renewed hostilities on the Golan front.
Egypt's reaction, however, seems to hold out some
possibility that Syria may be persuaded to attend
if early progress is made.
Egyptian nervousness over
air raids. (Page 1)
Hijackers of the Lufthansa aircraft from Rome may
be members of the dissident Fatah - Black September
group based in Tripoli. (Page 2)
The opening round of negotiations on force reduc-
tions in Europe was largely a probing exercise that
indicated areas of conflict and potential compromise.
(Page 3)
Soyuz 13, launched yesterday with two cosmonauts
aboard, appears to be operating normally. (Page 4)
Notes on cutbacks of Arab oil to Caribbean refiner-
ies and Denmark's new minority government appear on
Page 5.
possible Israeli
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ARAB STATES - ISRAEL
Syria's announcement yesterday that it would
not participate in the Geneva conference which be-
gins Friday reflects the ingrained convictions of
some Syrian leaders that productive negotiations
with Israel are still not possible.
By casting doubt on prospects for quickly at-
taining Arab goals through negotiation, the announce-
ment heightens chances for renewed hostilities on
the Golan front, where Syrian forces were alerted
and reinforced last week. Moreover, the recent Egyp-
tian military buildup and positioning of air force
units suggest the possibility of Egypt and Syria
advancing their timetable for applying military
pressure on Israel to withdraw from Arab territory.
Official Egyptian reaction to Syria's decision
still held out hope that the Syrians could be per-
suaded to attend the conference if early progress
were made. Cairo's statement expressed understand-
ing of the "fear and suspicion that have forced"
Syria not to attend the conference. However, it
emphasized that significant progress during the
early meetings could open the way for Syria and
other Arabs to contribute positively to the peace
effort. But, Cairo warned, Israeli stalling would
force the Arabs to resume the armed struggle.
According to press reports from Geneva, Israeli
officials reaffirmed Israel's agreement to attend
the conference, despite the Syrian decision.
Despite Egyptian nervousness, few cease-fire
violations were noted yesterday. UN observers re-
ported antiaircraft fire near Fayid on the west bank
of the Great Bitter Lake, and several heavy explo-
sions were heard north of Suez City. According to
Jerusalem Domestic Service, no cease-fire violations
occurred on the Syrian front.
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FEDAYEEN
The hijackers of the Lufthansa aircraft from
Rome airport are apparently members of a dissident
Fatah - Black September group based in Tripoli,
Libya. The group is headed by Ahmad Abd al-Ghaffur,
a Fatah member but a critic of Fatah chief Yasir
Arafat.
there is no in-
dication of Libyan complicity in this operation.
The hijackers' demand for the release by the
Greek Government of two imprisoned Palestinians
who staged a terrorist attack at Athens airport
last August suggests that the hijackers were oper-
ating under the guidance of Abd al-Ghaffur, who is
thought to have planned and supervised the Athens
incident. Prior to that incident Abd al-Ghaffur
was said to be planning attacks for both Rome and
Athens.
A principal purpose of the current hijacking
apparently was to disrupt the peace conference in
Geneva. Abd al-Ghaf fur in early 1973 was said to
Ahave agreed to coordinate his operations with of-
ficials of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, whose head, George Habbash, has publicly
opposed participation by the Palestine Liberation
Organization in the conference.
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MBFR
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USSR
Soyuz 13, launched yesterday from Tyuratam with
two cosmonauts aboard, appears to be operating nor-
mally.
The Soviet manned space program has been plagued
by a variety of problems which could affect the joint
Apollo-Soyuz mission scheduled for 1975. One objec-
tive of the current flight may be to test new com-
ponents added to the spacecraft for this joint mission.
The orbits of Soyuz 13 and Cosmos 613, an unmanned
spacecraft launched earlier, are significantly dif-
ferent, indicating that no rendezvous or docking
operations are planned.
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NOTES
Caribbean Oil: The embargo of crude oil by
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to all major refineries in
the Caribbean, Libya's cutback on shipments to some
refineries, and Libya's embargo to the one in the
Virgin Islands--all effective in early November--
stand to reduce the inflow of Arab crude to the area
by. about 80 percent. Heretofore, about 25 percent
of the Caribbean's supply of crude oil. has come from
these three countries. Output of the Caribbean re-
fineries is now beginning to reflect these cutbacks.
US imports of petroleum products from the Caribbean,
which amounted to 1.3 million barrels per day during
the first six months of 1973, may soon be reduced
by as Much as 18 percent.
Denmark: The minority government of Moderate
Liberal leader Poul Hartling enjoys, at least in-
itially, relatively broad parliamentary approval.
Over the longer term, however, support from the
fragmented parliament is uncertain. As a result,
the government may attempt only moderate domestic
reforms aimed at slowing inflation and modifying
the tax structure. Little innovation is likely in
foreign policy, particularly as regards relations
with NATO and the EC.
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Top Secret
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