THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 26 NOVEMBER 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007878
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: November 26, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
November 26, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category, 5B( 11,12),13)
declassified onli on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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November 26, 1974.
? Table: :of Contents
USSR: The Soviets appear to be pleased with the
Vladivostok summit. (Page 1)
Is
(Page 2)
Palestinians: PLO Chairman Arafat arrived in Moscow
yesterday. (Page 3)
Oil Summit: The Algerians have succeeded in shift-
ing the meeting of OPEC in December from Vienna
to Algiers. (Page 5)
Ethiopia: The ruling military council has all armed
forces and police on alert to forestall any
reaction to last weekend's executions. (Page 6)
Turkey: Former prime minister Ecevit is again try-
ing to form a coalition that would return him
to power. (Page 7)
? China:
(Page 8)
Notes: Japan; USSR; United Nations (Page 9)
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USSR
The Soviets appear to be pleased
with the Vladivostok summit. General
Secretary Brezhnev gave it pride of
place in a major speech he delivered
earlier today in Mongolia. Commen-
taries in the media have carried high
praise for the results?particularly
progress on arms limitations?and
have implied that you and Brezhnev
got along well personally.
Brezhnev said that his talks with you had con-
firmed and developed detente further. He specifi-
cally noted the accord to conclude "in the nearest
months" work on a mutually acceptable new agreement
to limit strategic weapons.
Pravda ran the joint communique on its front
page yesterday, and also carried the Soviet-Ameri-
can statement on SALT. Another mass-circulation
newspaper reported "great progress" toward a new
arms control agreement, and stated that coopera-
tion has become the political norm between the
two sides.
A speaker on a weekly radio roundtable in Mos-
cow described the summit as one of the most impor-
tant events of the decade. He noted also "how
fruitful have been the personal contacts between
the leaders." According to a Tass correspondent,
the talks are being universally acclaimed as a
major step forward in international relations.
On the cautionary side, commentators continue
to point to the efforts of "certain circles" in
the US to block normalization of US-Soviet trade,
although Pravda reported on November 22 that the
Senate Finance Committee had approved the trade
bill.
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ISRAEL?EGYPT?SYRIA
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PALESTINIANS
Palestine Liberation Organization
Chairman Yasir Arafat arrived in Moscow
yesterday, almost certainly hoping to
elicit more vigorous Soviet backing for
Palestinian political goals. Arafat will
probably have his first publicly acknowl-
edged meeting with Brezhnev when the party
boss returns from Mongolia later this week.
The Soviets will welcome Arafat's visit in
view of their intensified efforts to establish a
direct role for themselves in Middle East diplomacy.
They seem likely to offer more explicit recognition
to the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians
in view of the backing Arafat and the PLO won at the
Arab summit in Rabat and at the UN. The Soviets,
however, are expected to:
--avoid giving Arafat a blanket endorsement;
--caution him against repeating more extrava-
gant demands;
--stress that they recognize Israel's right to
exist.
Arafat's trip to Moscow comes on the heels of
his visits to Cuba and seven Arab states, and will
probably be followed by at least one stop in East-
ern Europe. This round of visits is aimed at main-
taining what Arafat sees as steadily building mo-
mentum toward wider international recognition of
Palestinian rights.
This effort to increase international sympa-
thy for the Palestinian cause seemed threatened
over the weekend by the hijacking of the British
Airways airliner from Dubai to Tunis. Prompt con-
demnation of the incident by Arafat appears, how-
ever, to have minimized the repercussions for the
PLO, which is adhering to its policy of condemning
international terrorism while condoning or approv-
ing strikes directly at Israel.
(continued)
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The hijacking--carried out by radical fedayeen
elements that have in the past operated from Libya
and Iraq--was the first directed against an Arab
state other than Jordan. It was immediately con-
demned by virtually all Arab governments, including
Libya and Iraq.
The ultimate fate of the hijackers is still un-
settled. The PLO, the Tunisian government, and the
other Arabs are united in claiming the hijackers
should be forced to "pay the price," although none
will be eager to shoulder responsibility for their
trial or detention.
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OIL SUIIMIT
The Algerians have succeeded in
shifting the next meeting of OPEC, sched-
uled for December 12. from Vienna to Al-
giers
They also want a meeting of oil price experts
just prior to the OPEC session and a joint meeting
of energy and foreign ministers following the De-
cember meeting. The ministers would prepare for
an oil producers summit next January.
The US embassy in Algiers has learned that
Iran and some other oil producers supported the
Algerian proposal for a change of venue. As the
organizers of the conference, the Algerians will
be in a better position to influence its decisions
and thus more effectively oppose any significant
reductions in the price of oil.
According to the US embassy, the Algerians'
principal goals for the meetings are to:
--maintain high oil prices;
--link these prices to an industrial goods
price index;
--recycle surplus oil revenues first to Arab
states and then to developing countries;
--blame the oil companies for the current
high prices.
Algeria depends on oil revenues to finance
its ambitious development program and cannot in
the near term increase production significantly
to earn more income. Algiers has come to believe
that, until sales of its natural gas increase fur-
ther, the best way to augment its revenues is to
link the price of oil to the cost of industrial
imports.
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ETHIOPIA
The ruling military council has
placed all armed forces and police on in-
creased alert to forestall any reaction
to the mass-executions last weekend.
There have been no disturbances or unusual
movements in Addis Ababa since the executions. A
serious split may, however, be developing between
the council and military units in the field who
complain that the council failed to consult them.
These units may demand that they be allowed to send
new representatives to the council--a move their
present representatives will probably resist.
Asmara, the capital of Eritrea Province, also
is reported normal, although uneasy over the coun-
cil's decision to send reinforcements to fight in-
surgents there. General Aman had favored a peace-
ful solution to the insurgency.
Whatever prompted the executions-
the arbitrary
nature of the killings, and the council's refusal
to let relatives claim the bodies, has probably
alienated many segments of the population who had
generally supported the council.
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TURKEY
Former prime minister Ecevit is re-
ported to be negotiating again with the
rightist Democratic Party in an effort
to form a coalition that would return
him to power.
The proposed nonpartisan government of Sadi
Irmak has come under fire from all sides and faces
an uphill battle to obtain the necessary parlia-
mentary vote of confidence later this week. Ece-
vit's party and the Democrats hold a slim majority
in the national assembly, sufficient to seal the
fate of the Irmak government. Little effort. would
then be needed to persuade President Koruturk to
tap Ecevit, again to form a government.
The armed forces continue to favor.Ecevit and
have begun. to .press: civilian politicians, to re-
solve their differences as?Turkey? enters its third
month of caretaker government. Senior officers do
not favor direct intervention in the political
process, but there are increasing ? signs that jun-
ior officers, may, push for. action if the. impasse
continues much longer.'. Student, unrest has grown
since Ecevit.left,colfice,-.and this too is. .likely
to encourage military and civilian leaders to end
the stalemate.
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CHINA
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NOTES
Japan: Leaders of the ruling Liberal Demo-
cratic Party are now discussing the method by which
they will choose a successor to Prime Minister Ta-
naka, who announced his resignation this morning.
The method will affect the chances of the two lead-
ing contenders, former finance minister Fukuda and
Finance Minister Ohira. If the party cannot decide
between the two, it may designate party vice presi-
dent Shiina to head a caretaker government until
elections are held in July. The party will almost
certainly reach a decision before mid-December, when
the Diet reconvenes. Whoever the choice, he is not
likely to make changes in Japanese policy that would
affect close relations with the US.
USSR: Final preparations are under way for the
launch of a manned Soyuz spacecraft.
that the launch is scheduled tor Thursday, but it
could be delayed. The purpose of the mission prob-
ably will be to check out techniques and equipment
to be used in the July 1975 joint Apollo-Soyuz flight,
especially the environmental control and docking sys-
tems. The Soviet crew for the upcoming flight re-
portedly will be the backup team for the joint mis-
sion.
United Nations: The General Assembly's polit-
ical committee has suspended consideration of the
Korean issue until the Cambodian debate is concluded.
General Assembly President Bouteflika and other sup-
porters of Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk have been
pressing for an early debate on Cambodia to'capital-
ize on the momentum created by recent Third World
victories. The vote--essentially who should repre-
sent Cambodia--is expected tomorrow or the next day
and should be close.
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