THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 6 MARCH 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007691
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 6, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
March 6, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of EQ. 11652
exemption category 513(1).(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
March 6, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Saudi officials told the US Embassy in Jidda yes-
terday that Libyan President Qadhafi has refused
to host a conference of Arab oil ministers. They
will still meet on March 10, however, probably in
Kuwait. (Pagel)
The communique following Soviet Foreign Minister
Gromyko's visit to Egypt shows that not much progress
was made toward ameliorating the USSR's problems with
Egypt. (Page 2)
Prime Minister Golda Meir announced last night that
Moshe Dayan will join her new cabinet, which she is
to ask President Katzir to approve today. (Page 4)
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie yesterday announced
Major constitutional changes in an attempt to. calm
continuing civilian and military unrest. (Page 6)
The hijacking of a British Airways airliner early
this week may have had Libyan backing, (Page 8)
Prime Minister Wilson is likely to pursue a moderate
course over the next several months. (Page 9).
Unrest continued yesterday in the Argentine provincial
capital of Cordoba. (Page 10)
The government in Guatemala is busy fixing the results
of Sunday's election. (Page 11)
The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and
India will meet in early April, probably chiefly to
discuss disposition of the 195 POWs held in India.
(Page 12)
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LIBYA
Saudi officials told the US Embassy in Jidda
yesterday that Libyan President Qadhafi has refused
to host a conference of Arab oil ministers. Qadhafi
reportedly came out strongly against lifting the em-
bargo on oil to the US and declared that, in any
?case, Tripoli is not the place to discuss this prob-
lem.
The Saudis insist, however, that the Arab oil
ministers will still meet on March 10, without the
Libyans, probably in Kuwait.
The US Embassy reports that Saudi officials
hope their argument that the embargo is no longer
in the Arab interest will prevail at that meeting.
They expect, however, to encounter opposition, at
least from Iraq.
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USSR-EGYPT
Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko does not seem
to have made much progress toward ameliorating the
Soviet Union's problems with Egypt. The communique'
that followed his five-day visit referred unabashedly
to "detailed debates." The reference suggests that
Gromyko did not get any further with the Egyptians
than Brezhnev did in January.
The Egyptians again paid lip service in the
communique to the "importance arid necessity" of So-
viet participation in all stages of the Middle East
peace negotiations, including the working committees
at the moribund Geneva conference. Cairo did not
make any new commitment to the Soviets on this score.
The Egyptian and Soviet foreign ministers traded
rather pointed remarks in banquet speeches on the
eve of Gromyko's departure. Fahmi characterized
their talks as "frank" and referred twice to the
five-year hiatus between Gromyko's visits to Cairo.
Gromyko, for his part, repeated a warning he
had made a few days earlier in Damascus. He cau-
tioned the Arabs to be wary of those who want to
substitute "partial solutions" for a real settlement
and who want to set the Arabs and their "allies"
against one another. These implicitly anti-US state-
ments were not echoed in the communique.
Gromyko seemed to imply that continued Soviet
military and economic support was contingent on
Cairo's doing its part to keep relations in repair.
The Egyptians were worried that Gromyko was
aiming at a continued Soviet economic and military
role in Egypt at relatively low cost. The communi-
que made no mention of bilateral economic or mili-
tary matters. The Soviets did pledge to assist in
opening the Suez Canal "in principle."
(continued)
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Gromyko also found an appropriate occasion to
make plain Moscow's objections to Sadat's moves to-
ward economic liberalization at home. Gromyko noted
that ,Moscow hoped the state sector of the Egyptian
economy would undergo further Strengthening, "with-
out which progressive socio-economic changes are
impossible."
Gromyko apparently made no effort to soothe
Sadat's irritation that Moscow has not responded to
a long-standing invitation fora visit to Egypt by
one of the top three Soviet leaders. Although there
had been speculation before Gromyko's trip that a
visit by Soviet President Podgorny would be announced,
the communique merely noted that an invitation to
Brezhnev had been "renewed."
While in Cairo, Gromyko met with Palestinian
leader Yasir Arafat, and for the first time the So-
viets publicly acknowledged a meeting between one
of their top leaders and the fedayeen. The announce-
ment represents a small step toward Soviet recogni-
tion of Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization
as spokesman for the Palestinians.
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ISRAEL
Prime Minister Golda Meir announced last night
that Moshe Dayan will join her new cabinet, which she
is to ask President Katzir to approve today. The
other hold-out, Shimon Peres, will go along with Dayan.
A Jerusalem radio correspondent subsequently re-
ported that a meeting of the National Religious Party
leadership this afternoon will reconsider the party's
refusal to join the Alignment coalition.
Any developing security
threat--such as possible Syrian military preparations--
would provide a reason, or an excuse, for Dayan to
close ranks.
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SYRIA
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ETHIOPIA
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie yesterday an-
nounced major constitutional changes--including
curbs on his own authority--in an attempt to calm
continuing civilian and military unrest.
The Emperor, in a nationwide address, said he
had directed Prime Minister Endalkatchew to call a
constitutional conference. The new constitution
would make the prime minister responsible to parlia-
ment, guarantee civil rights, streamline court pro-
cedures, and clarify relations among the branches
of the government.
The Emperor's statement is a milestone in the
transformation of Ethiopian politics. The promised
arrangements would place Ethiopia on the way to be-
coming a constitutional monarchy. They are a sig-
nificant concession to demands for political liber-
alization from groups outside the hierarchy, in-
cluding some of the military.
Although the Emperor and his closest associates
have recognized that political change is necessary,
they hope to control its pace and general direction.
The writing of a constitution will take time, and
the new arrangements may be resisted by powerful
nobles as a threat to their privileged position.
Dissident groups will become impatient if the
process is too prolonged, and will be sensitive to
any sign that the regime is not committed to a more
democratic form of government.
The regime presumably believes it must make po-
litical concessions partly to offset its inability,
because of limited financial resources, to meet the
economic demands of workers and teachers. The pay
increases granted dissident troops. to end their re-
volt have seriously strained the budget and have en-
couraged civilians to demand economic improvement.'
The Ethiopian labor confederation is planning
to call a-general strike Thursday to support a 16-
point list of demands, including a sizable wage in-
crease and greater protection for labor's right to
strike and organize. Leaders evidently intend the
strike to last for one or two days to demonstrate
labor's strength; they do not appear to be trying
to bring down the government.. The strike could
lengthen however', if the demands are not met.
(continued)
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Teachers continue to ask for salary increases
and new educational policies. Their association is
divided. Militants will not agree to the moderates'
call for an end to their two-week-old strike while
the new government reviews their demands.
Students remain restless and may renew demon-
strations against the government.
A majority of military dissidents still seem
willing to give the new government a chance. Un-
rest, however, continues in some units. Enlisted
men at the naval base in Massawa are holding some
officers and demanding the removal of 13 unpopular
ones. Enlisted men with unsatisfied grievances at
Debre Zeit air base have reportedly refused to turn
in their weapons. The continuing dissension in the
air force may have played a role in the dismissal
yesterday of air force commander Major General Aberra,
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FEDAYEEN -LIBYA
The hijacking of a British Airways airliner
early this week apparently was the work of Marwan
Haddad, a former member of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine, who may have received
Libyan backing for this operation. Marwan Haddad
is a relative of the Popular Front's operations
chief, Wadi Haddad.
. According to a reliable contact of the US Em-
bassy in Beirut, Marwan Haddad recently joined a
Libyan-controlled terrorist group. He had earlier
fled to Libya after hijacking a Lufthansa airliner
to secure the release of fedayeen captured in the
Munich kidnaping of Israeli Olympic. athletes.
The Lufthansa hijacking was carried out by the
"Organization of Arab Nationalist Youth for the
Liberation of Palestine," which is the same name
used by hijackers of the British aircraft this week.
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Should Libya's involvement in this incident be
proved, it will further complicate President Qadhafi's
effort to improve Libya's relations with Egypt.
President Sadat recently indicated that Libyan-
Egyptian reconciliation can go forward only, if
Qadhafi stops supporting Palestinian terrorists.
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UK
? Prime Minister Wilson is likely to pursue a mod-
erate course over the next several months and can
count on both the Tories and Liberals not to bring
down the government, except on a point of fundamental
principle. Politicians and political observers, how-
ever, expect Wilson to call new elections, possibly
by the end of the year.
Wilson yesterday named Michael Foot, a left-wing
member of the party in whom the unions should have
confidence, as the new Secretary of State for Employ-
ment. Foot's first move was to meet with the miners'
chiefs to try to settle the strike, now in its fourth
week. The president of the miners later announced
that he hopes to resume talks with the National Coal
Board today. Wilson himself met with industry and
union leaders yesterday to discuss the economic sit-
uation.
? Wilson's immediate aims are to end the strike,
return to a five-day work week as soon as possible,
and introduce a budget that will simultaneously com-
bat inflation, reduce the balance-of-payments deficit,
and still fulfill Labor's pledge to redistribute
wealth. The budget is likely to call for a defense
cut--a measure either party would have been forced
to consider. Wilson probably will also press those
measures that are almost certain to gain Liberal sup-
port, such as the repeal of the Industrial Relations
Act.
Although the Liberals may be willing to tolerate
some discussion of EC entry terms, they would not
favor a hard approach to the other EC countries nor
would they consider any talk of withdrawal. One mod-
erate Labor cabinet official suggested just before
the election that London might appeal to the Germans
to support enlarging the regional fund and thereby
to make membership more palatable to the British peo-
ple. If Britain receives such benefits, this could
reduce pressure for renegotiation at least until new
elections.
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ARGENTINA
Unrest continued 'yesterday in Argentina' .provin-
cial capital of Cordoba.
In Buenos Aires, the federal Senate approved, af-
ter considerable acrimonious debate, President Peron's
request for authority to reorganize the executive
branch of the provincial government. The bill will be
considered today by the Chamber of Deputies, where it
is likely, to encounter much stiffer opposition.
The US Embassy reports that the deputies may not
even vote on the bill for another week or so, and even
then there is no assurance. that it will win the re-
quired two-thirds majority. Further delay in federal
intervention in the troubled province will increase
the likelihood of widespread Violence.
Meanwhile the national government's clumsiness
in the Cordoba affair is reportedly causing strain
among moderate leftists Within the Peronist movement.
These are said to fear that the,government's behavior
will cause leftist peronists to join forces with the
movement's extremists who advocate armed revolution..
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GUATEMALA
The Arana gOvernment evidently intends to name
the administration-backed presidential candidate,
General Kjell Laugerud, winner of Sunday's election,
despite additional signs that opposition candidate
General Efrain Rios Montt actually won.
The government continued to play for time yes-
terday,,delaying the release Of voting returns until
late in the day,- It probably needed the extra time
to engineer enough additional fraud to give Laugerud
a plurality in the three-man race, This would throw
the election into the government-controlled Congress,
which would pick Laugerud.
? Guatemala City remained without violence yester-
day, despite rising tensions over the outcome of the
election. Supporters of Rios Montt and Laugerud
traded charges and countercharges of massive election
fraud.
.Rios Montt declared that "historical responsi-
bility and military honor" required him to reject the
government's attempts to cheat him of his victory
and he appealed for peaceful resistance.
Whether Arana will be able to make the Laugerud
"victory" stick will depend heavily on the attitude
of the army, which in turn will be influenced by the
degree of popular discontent created by the govern-
ment's transparent fraudulence. Although it would
prefer to avoid becoming involved in a major 'conflict
between pro- and anti-government elements, the army
may be forced to act if violence breaks out.
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PAKISTAN-BANGLADESH-INDIA
?The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and India will meet on April 4 probably chiefly to
discuss disposition of the 195 POWs held in India.
The Pakistanis believe, on the basis of statements
made by Prime Minister Mujib of Bangladesh at the
Islamic summit last month, that the POWs will be
released.
The Pakistanis have informed the Bengalees,
however, that should the POW issue continue unre-
solved,. Islamabad will ask Peking to use its veto
again to bar Bangladesh's admittance to the United
Nations. The Pakistanis presumably hope that Dacca's
desire to enter the UN in time for the General Assem-
bly's special session on raw Materials and develop-
ment, scheduled for April 9, will induce Bangladesh,
to settle the issue quickly.
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