THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 3 FEBRUARY 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007932
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: February 3, 1975

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012400010050-4
The President's Daily Brief
February 3, 1975
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Exempt from general
declauification schedule of E.O. I 1652
exemption category 56(1)42),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012400010050-4
Declassified in Part'- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T009-36A012400010050-4
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
February 3, 1975
Table of Contents
Ethiopia: Government forces remain in firm control
of Asmara following a weekend of attacks by in-
surgents. (Page 1)
Portugal: Government spokesmen have denied that
Moscow has asked for fishing-fleet port facili-
ties. (Page 2)
Cyprus: Tensions increased over the weekend.
(Page 3)
Notes: France - West Germany, Thailand (Page 5
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ETHIOPIA
Government forces remain in firm
control of Asmara, capital of Eritrea
Province, following a weekend of hit-
and-run attacks on their positions by
insurgents.
The past two days have been marked by sporadic
and often intense firing. Some of it may have been
aimed at the rebels, but troops also fired indis-
criminately at buildings and civilians.
The army has conducted house-to-house searches
for arms and insurgents, and has arrested a large
number of Eritreans, some of whom will probably be
held as hostages. The army was ordered back to its
barracks last night, probably as a result of loot-
ing by soldiers, and the police have assumed respon-
sibility for the city's security.
On Saturday, troops attacked rebel positions
in at least five villages west of Asmara. The
fighting, heavy in some of these engagements, con-
tinued yesterday. Air force planes have flown nu-
merous sorties and reportedly have bombed several
villages. One plane was downed by rebel fire.
There have been no casualties among the ap-
proximately 400 US citizens in Eritrea, but the con-
sulate was hit by small-arms fire yesterday. A
company of paratrooper reinforcements is on its
way to Asmara from Addis Ababa.
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PORTUGAL
Government spokesmen have denied re-
ports that the USSR has asked for port
facilities for its Atlantic fishing fleet.
Some fragmentary evidence exists, however,
suggesting that the subject was explored
by Moscow and Lisbon late last year.
Our embassy in Lisbon has learned that the.
source of the story is a Portuguese diplomat sta-
tioned in Moscow who recently .visited home. Ac-
cording to him, an agreement was arranged in Moscow
with Mario Ruivo, Portugal's secretary of state for
fisheries Ruivo has been associated with a Com-
munist-front organization and may have been in the
Soviet Union in December. An aide from Ruivo's of-
fice issued a denial,.however, and our ambassador
has not been able to get any answers from a high-
level official.
Leftist elements in Portugal have become in-
creasingly assertive in recent weeks. Some of
their actions have been in defiance of the Armed
Forces Movement, whose authority up to now had been
unchallenged.
We continue to believe that the majority of
the Movement's members are moderates, but they may
be having difficulty deciding where-to stop the
country's gradual drift to the left. Part of their
indecision may be because they are more anti-fascist
than anti-communist and react to anything that
smacks of a return of the old regime.
Should the Communists and other radical groups
go too far, however, these moderates, combined with
the conservatives elsewhere in the armed forces,
may be galvanized into unified action. The pros-
pect of violence, in fact, may have prompted the
Interior Ministry's appeal yesterday for veterans
returning from the colonial wars to turn in their
weapons.
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CYPRUS
Tensions increased in Cyprus over
the weekend as Greek and Turkish forces
exchanged heavy gunfire on both Friday
and Saturday. The two sides have also
leveled new charges against each other
for bad faith in the intercommunal talks.
The clashes, described by the US embassy in
Nicosia as the most serious in several months, be-
gan on Friday in northwest Cyprus. Heavy gunfire
lasted for about thirty minutes. Heavy firing oc-
curred on Saturday near Nicosia airport and spread
to the UN-patrolled "green line" which separates
Greek and Turkish forces in Nicosia. There is no
information on who initiated the shooting on Friday,
but UN officials are "reasonably certain" that
Turkish forces started the two-hour exchange on
Saturday. The UN officials eventually arranged a
cease-fire, but the situation is tense and more
clashes could occur.
? The clashes came amidst Greek and Greek Cypriot
charges that the intercommunal talks had made no
progress because of Turkish intransigence and delay-
ing tactics. Turkish and Turkish Cypriot officials
have embarked on a last-minute campaign to show that
some progress had been made despite the inflexibil-
ity of the Greek side.
In fact, the negotiators made no progress in
their six meetings on substantive political issues
last month. They will have a final chance today
before the scheduled suspension of US military aid
to Turkey on Wednesday. The lack of progress ap-
pears to be the result of Turkish reluctance to
make concessions and Greek unwillingness to accept
token gestures which might give the talks an ap-
pearance of progress and lead to an extension of
the cutoff date.
If US military aid to Turkey continues after
Wednesday, Greek Cypriot students reportedly intend
to organize mass anti-American demonstrations.
Last month, Greek Cypriot demonstrators damaged the
US embassy and the USIS library.
(continued)
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Ankara may also come under increasing pressure
from the Soviets to soften its stance on Cyprus.
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NOTES
French President Giscard and West German Chan-
cellor Schmidt will be talking almost exclusively
about EC issues when they meet in Paris today and
tomorrow for their semi-annual summit.
Much of their discussion will center on the
possibility of UK withdrawal from the community,
should the British electorate vote in June to leave
the organization. Chancellor Schmidt intends to
carry out his pledge to Prime Minister Wilson to
get the UK better terms for EC membership, but he
is concerned about the financial cost these terms
will impose on West Germany. The French are willing
to sweeten the pot, but Giscard doubts this will
have much impact on the British voters.
Thailand's Democrat and Social Agrarian parties
announced today they would try to form a minority
government, and a number of small parties pledged
their support.
Earlier negotiations between the moderate Dem-
ocrat Party and the conservative Thai Nation Party
apparently faltered over who would gain the power-
ful minister of interior portfolio. Democrat Party
leader Prince Seni, 69, was Thailand's prime minis-
ter briefly at the end of the World War II. The
national assembly meets on Thursday to elect its
speaker, who will nominate the new prime minister.
According to Prince Seni, the budget bill is likely
to be the first test for the minority government.
He said he will call for new elections if the as-
sembly fails to approve the bill.
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Top Secret
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