THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 24 JANUARY 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007655
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: January 24, 1974

. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A011900010045-6
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The President's Daily Brief
January 24, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 58(1)521(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized CopyRelease
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
January 24, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Egypt's acceptance of the disengagement agreement
and renewed calls by Sadat for Palestinian partici-
pation in the Geneva talks have created havoc among
the fedayeen. Arafat's efforts to develop a unified
Palestinian policy on peace negotiations have been
set back. (Page 2)
Soviets1
__Esypirt.
/ (Page 3)
France apparently is ready to sell 30 Mirage F-1
interceptors to Libya. The deal may involve an ex-
change of oil for the aircraft. (Page 4)
In Argentina, President Peron's call for a national
mobilization against terrorists has, at least tem-
porarily, united most Argentines behind him and
isolated his opponents. (Page 5)
Popular discontent in India over persistent economic
problems is causing fresh worry among leaders of the
ruling Congress Party. The party was shaken by
four by-election defeats earlier this month, and
will have to perform more effectively if it is to
avoid more serious setbacks in the months ahead.
(Page 6)
On Page 7 are notes on
Venezuelan oil developments, and
Chilean political moves.
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UNITED KINGDOM
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FEDAYEEN
Egypt's acceptance of the disengagement agree-
ment and renewed calls by President Sadat for Pales-
tinian participation in the Geneva talks have created
havoc within the Palestine Liberation Organization.
PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat, also the head of Fatah,
the largest fedayeen group, is caught between his
apparent commitment to back Sadat and the need to
deal with widespread opposition to the Egyptian move
among other fedayeen leaders.
Prompted by the leader of the Syrian-backed
Saiqa organization, non-Fatah members of the PLO
Executive Committee voted on January 19 to condemn
the Egyptian-Israeli disengagement agreement as a
betrayal of Palestinian interests. Arafat, who was
in Cairo conferring with Sadat at the time the com-
mittee's decision was announced, quickly branded it
"illegal."
Whatever the message Arafat is bringing from
Sadat, there is no sign that it will ease fedayeen
unhappiness with Egypt or suspicions about Arafat's
motives. Saiqa, second to Fatah in size and impor-
tance, will continue to reflect Syria's apprehensions
about Egypt's unilateral negotiations with Israel.
The smaller fedayeen organizations have little al-
ternative to opposing Cairo's policy if they wish
to ensure continuing support from their patrons in
Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
This round of recriminations is another setback
to Arafat's efforts to develop a unified Palestinian
policy on peace negotiations.
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USSR-EGYPT
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Mirage F-1 Interceptor
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LIBYA-FRANCE
France apparently is ready to sell 30 Mirage
F-1 interceptors to Libya. President Qadhafi had
? expressed interest in buying these aircraft during
? his visit to France last November(
//The deal may involve an exchange of
oil for the Mirages.
France has previously sold Libya 120 Mirage 5
and III aircraft, about 100 of which have already
been delivered. The F-1 has greater range and ma-
neuverability. The Libyans have also purchased and
deployed the French Crotale surface-to-air missile
system and are seeking additional radars from France
to bolster Libya's air defense.
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ARGENTINA
President Peron's call for a national mobiliza-
tion against terrorists has, at least temporarily,
united most Argentines behind him and isolated his
opponents.
The bloody attack by Marxist guerrillas on a
military garrison last weekend has caused widespread
outrage in a society that had become somewhat inured
to violence. The raid also was a tactical disaster.
Some 20 terrorists were apparently killed and hun-
dreds of suspected extremists are being rounded up.
Military leaders have been reassured by Peron's
tough response. Although their role in the counter-
terrorist drive is still not clear, most officers
see recent developments as marking the end of Peron's
restraint toward the extremist groups. The Presi-
dent's criticism of provincial authorities for being
soft, on leftists was particularly welcomed by the
military.
The left-leaning governor of Buenos Aires Prov-
ince, where the guerrilla incident occurred, has al-
ready been forced to resign and there are press re-
ports that the province will be taken over by cen-
tral government officials. The governor and left-
ist labor leaders in Cordoba Province are also under
fire.
The left-wing youth of the Peronist Movement has
condemned the terrorists, but also criticized as
"repressive" the new antiterrorist legislation now
before Congress. Despite their continued protest
against the draft legislation, it will undoubtedly
be promulgated soon. Although recent events have
given Peron a unique opportunity to strike a hard
blow at the terrorists, his strong reaction runs
the risk of driving the Peronist left wing into the
extremist camp.
On the foreign affairs front, the government
is putting pressure on the local Ford subsidiary to
sell 1,500 passenger cars and 1,000 heavy trucks to
Cuba in violation of OAS sanctions. Argentine offi-
cials say that if Ford does not comply, the company
will be forced to sell the vehicles to the Argentine
Government at a punitively, low price for subsequent
delivery to Cuba. Moreover, if Ford does not sell,
it would not meet the export quota imposed by the
government and thus would lose a proportionate share
of the domestic market. Ford has already applied for
a waiver from the US Treasury.
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.4. LI 1- ? J. ,A-41 J. ? NJ AY,
INDIA
-
INDIA
Popular discontent over continuing economic
problems--recently aggravated by higher prices for
oil--is causing fresh worry among leaders of the
ruling Congress Party.
Earlier this month the Congress Party was
shaken by four by-election defeats in Maharashtra
State, heretofore a party stronghold. Coupled with
a surge of antigovernment demonstrations in many
areas, these defeats have raised questions of what
may be in store next month when four states and a
union territory elect new. legislatures. The most
important of the five approaching polls is in the
north central state of Uttar Pradesh--Prime Minister
Gandhi's home base and, with a population of 90 mil-
lion, India's largest state. Mrs. Gandhi has ex-
erted every effort to win this one, and victory
seemed assured until the Maharashtra defeats showed
the depth of the public's disenchantment with the
party.
Mrs. Gandhi s government does not face re-elec-
tion until 1976, and as yet there are no signs that
a viable alternative to her party and its programs
is in the making. It is clear, however, that the
party's appeal is waning, and that her administra-
tion will have to perform more effectively if she
is to escape more serious political consequences
in the months ahead.
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NOTES
USSR:
Venezuela: The Caldera government, which only
recently ordered foreign oil companies to pay 18
percent of their royalties in crude oil, beginning
in early April, reportedly is considering raising
this figure to 30 percent. This move would be con-
sistent with Venezuela's increasing interest in using
its oil for political advantage by selling to other
Latin American countries at preferential prices.
Chile: The government this week issued a regu-
lation banning specific activities by moderate and
conservative political parties. Unlike the leftist
parties, which were outlawed, these parties have
been permitted an "inactive" existence. The junta's
desire to "depoliticize" the country apparently con-
tinues to outweigh the argument, pressed by the
Christian Democrats, that only Communists or other
leftists skilled in clandestine activity stand to
gain from the moratorium.
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Top Secret
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