THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 7 OCTOBER 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007835
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: October 7, 1974

Declassified in Part: Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012300010012-7
The President's Daily Brief
October 7, 1974
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012300010012-7
Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 513(1),(2).(3)
? declassified only on approval of
. the Director of Central Intelligence
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012300010012-7
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012300010012-7
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
October 7, 1974
Table of Contents
Middle East:
(Page 1)
Italy: President Leone begins consultations toward
naming a candidate to form a new government.
(Page 2)
USSR: Brezhnev, speaking in East Berlin yesterday,
underscored the importance of both Germanies
to Soviet policy and recited a litany of arms
control proposals, without a sign of give in
the USSR's positions on the latter. (Page 3)
Notes: China; Ethiopia (Page 4)
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MIDDLE EAST
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ITALY
Italian President Leone today begins
consultations toward naming a candidate
to form a successor to Prime Minister
Rumor's center-left government that re-
signed last week. Party leaders have
been careful not to foreclose the possi-
bility of forming a new center-left coa-
lition.
Actual negotiations to form a government will
be long and difficult, complicated chiefly by the
increased assertiveness of the Socialists. The
Socialists will press hard for more important cabi-
net posts, more spending on social programs, and--
probably--for some form of governmental collabora-
tion with the Communists.
The Communists are hammering at the theme they
have stressed with increasing emphasis during the
last year--that the country's problems cannot be
?solved without Communist help. They have urged a
"new departure" that will give them more influence
in the governing process.
There is little enthusiasm for holding parlia-
mentary elections as proposed last week by Finance
Minister Tanassi, leader of the Social Democrats--
the smallest party in Rumor's cabinet. It was
Tanassi's bitter attack ?against his Socialist coa-
lition partners and his call for elections that
triggered the government's collapse.
The Christian Democrats argue that early elec-
tions would not help solve the country's economic
problems. The Socialists agree but are sticking to
their demands for changes in the economic stabiliza-
tion program. A breach has opened on the issue
even within the ranks of the Social Democrats.
The Communists reject new elections as a move that
would paralyze the country.
The fall of the government has not yet had a
direct impact on efforts to deal with Italy's eco-
nomic problems, although this would appear to be
only a matter of time. Prior to Rumor's resignation,
organized labor had requested a meeting with top gov-
ernment and management officials to discuss union
demands for higher wages and benefits. Labor's pa-
tience will probably begin to wear thin if efforts
to organize a new government are protracted--espe-
cially if unemployment begins to rise sharply.
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USSR
General Secretary Brezhnev spoke in
East Berlin yesterday in celebration of
the 25th anniversary of the German Commu-
nist state.
Much of his 70-minute speech was dedicated to
the event at hand and underscored the importance of
both Germanies to Soviet policy. Brezhnev mentioned
West German Chancellor Schmidt's scheduled visit to
Moscow late this month and cited approvingly Schmidt's
pledge to continue the Ostpolitik of Willy Brandt.
The Soviet leader appeared to be calling for
diplomatic stability with regard to Berlin. He em-
phasized the importance of the Quadripartite Agree-
ment on the city to relations between Moscow and
Bonn and warned against West German attempts to ob-
tain "special advantages" in West Berlin or make the
city an object of a "political game." The latter
references appear to be in reaction to Bonn's recent
establishment of a federal environmental office in
West Berlin.
In private talks with East German party chief
Honecker, Brezhnev is expected to give special atten-
tion to each government's relations with West Germany.
Brezhnev recited the gamut of Soviet arms con-
trol proposals without showing any signs of give in
the USSR's positions. As anticipated, he gave stress
to the negotiations on European security and coopera-
tion at Geneva. As he did in a recent speech during
the visit to Mosdow of Hungarian party chief Kadar,
Brezhnev placed no time limit on conclusion of the
conference and did not call for a summit-level con-
clusion to the negotiations. Again, as did Kadar,
Brezhnev's ally Honecker called for a meeting at the
"highest level" to end the talks.
Regarding China, Brezhnev chastized its Maoist
leaders but said that Moscow would continue to try
to normalize relations with Peking.
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NOTE
China: Premier Chou En-lai, who left his sick
bed to host a banquet on September 30, has returned
to the hospital. Yesterday, the president of Gabon
met with Chou in his hospital room./
Ethiopia: Tension remained high in Addis Ababa
this weekend, as more troops moved into the Ethi-
opian capital. As of Saturday, according to the US
embassy, efforts were still being made to reach a
compromise among the various military factions and
avoid an armed confrontation. The identity of the
opposing groups is still not clear and the alle-
giances of key military elements are still in doubt.
The military authorities in Asmara, the capital of
the northern province of Eritrea, announced yester-
day that the security situation had "worsened" and
imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew. Late last month,
there were indications that the Eritrean Liberation
Front, which controls most of the countryside, was
planning to renew terrorist operations in Asmara.
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