THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 14 JUNE 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007983
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 14, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
46tite
June 14 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5B( 1,(21.(31
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
June 14, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Peking municipal leadership is being criticized
in political wall posters appearing in the Chinese
capital. (Page 1)
Cambodian Prime Minister Long Boret's resignation
is a formality that will allow him to form a new
cabinet. (Page 3)
Saudi Arabia has spent some $400 million of its oil
revenue on foreign economic aid so far this year.
(Page 4)
The military take-over in Sana yesterday was prompted
by a dispute over government handling of a recently
uncovered Iraqi-backed coup plot. (Page 5)
Notes on the fedayeen attack yesterday, UK Foreign
Secretary Callaghan's speech to parliament, EC-Por-
tugal, and
Thailand appear on Pages 6 and 7.
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CHINA
The Peking municipal leadership is being crit-
icized in political wall posters appearing in the
Chinese capital. The specific charges--alleging
repression of the anti-Confucius campaign in the
city and the removal several years ago of workers
and peasants from the city's ruling groups--are
local in their focus. The criticism, nevertheless,
reaches ultimately into the national leadership,
for the political boss of Peking, Wu Te, is a mem-
ber of the Politburo.
The appearance of these posters after a rela-
tive lull in the anti-Confucius campaign seems to
signal a resumption of political--and potentially
disruptive--activity. The posters fall, however,
well within the moderate ground rules for the con-
duct of the current political campaign. They have
not been posted indiscriminately throughout the
city, but only on one building; they make no at-
tacks by name; and they appeal to the Peking party
leadership to conduct the campaign.
The nature of the criticism suggests that the
posters are the work of leftists. No officials
are attacked by name, but the chief target is prob-
ably Wu Te himself. As the head of the government
organization in charge of culture, Wu seemed to be
under attack last winter for allowing an opera
that angered the leftists to be performed in a
national theatrical festival in Peking. The cul-
tural attacks failed to claim any high-level vic-
tims, and the latest criticism, which does not
raise the cultural issue, may be another attempt
to undercut Wu.
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USSR
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CAMBODIA
Prime Minister Long Boret's resignation is a
formality that will allow him to form a new cabinet,
which apparently will not include any members of
Sink Matak's minority Republican Party. According
to the US embassy, the cabinet will consist of inde-
pendents and members of President Lon Nol's Socio-
Republican Party. A senior Republican, however,
will join Matak on an expanded Executive Council,
the country's top policy-making body, thereby main-
taining the government's coalition character.
These moves are designed in part to placate the
Socio-Republicans who dominate the National Assembly
and whose harassment of Republican ministers in the
outgoing cabinet provoked much of ?the recent politi-
cal ferment in Phnom Penh.
/The reshuffling will enable
the government to begin functioning again, but a new
cabinet may not be any more effective than its prede-
cessor.
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SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia has spent some $400 million of its
oil revenue on foreign economic aid so far this year.
The total could approach $1 billion by year's end as
King Faysal pays off the belligerents and supporters
of the Arab cause in the October war.
Saudi Arabia, however, will disappoint many aid
seekers. The Saudis reject the notion that oil-rich
Arabs should assume a major responsibility for world
aid.
Saudi aid goes principally on a bilateral basis
to other Moslem countries and functions as a personal
vehicle of King Faysal. In addition, Riyadh is likely
to participate in selected multinational Islamic lend-
ing institutions. At best, only token participation
can be expected 'in non-Arab programs, such as the
proposed International Monetary Fund arrangement to
help oil-importing developing countries.
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NORTH YEMEN
The military take-over in North Yemen yesterday
was touched off by a dispute between President
Iryani and tribal leaders over the government's
handling of a recently uncovered Iraqi-backed coup
plot.
The ruling command council, led
by armed forces Deputy Commander Colonel Hamdi, as-
sured the US embassy of its intention to maintain
continuity in foreign policy, particularly with re-
gard to close cooperation with the US.
The crisis broke Wednes-
day when Sheikh al-Ahmar, president of the Consul-
tative Assembly and an important tribal leader,
chastised Iryani for not taking sufficiently firm
measures with Iraq and the local Baathist plotters
who wanted to topple the government. Faced with a
possible formal motion for his removal in the as-
sembly, Iryani--in office since 1967--resigned and
retired to his country home in Taiz.
Colonel Hamdi, who also was unhappy with
Iryani's handling of the Iraqi issue, moved into
the political vacuum and announced the formation
of a seven-member military command council. He
has asked Prime Minister Makki and his cabinet to
remain in office, but has suspended the constitu-
tion and dissolved the Consultative Assembly.
The military is in control of key installa-
tions, but there is a threat of clashes with the
tribal forces of Sheikh al-Ahmar, some of whom are
in the capital. Hamdi, known to be hostile to
tribal influence in the government, will face dif-
ficulty maintaining control in the countryside if
he does not win the support of Al-Ahmar and other
tribal leaders. The dissolution of the Consulta-
tive Assembly, moreover, is likely to have further
antagonized Sheikh al-Ahmar.
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NOTES
Fedayeen: The radical Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine - General Command has claimed
responsibility for the terrorist attack yesterday on
Shamir, a small Israeli settlement near the Lebanese
border. A spokesman for the group has said that the
attack was designed to upset progress toward a Middle
East settlement and cast a pall over President Nixon's
visit to the area.
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Israel's reaction to 25X1
the attack may be less torcetui than its response to
the incident last month at Maalot. There were rela-
tively few casualties this time, and Tel Aviv would
be reluctant to have the matter overshadow other is-
sues being discussed during the President's visit.
UK-EC: In a speech to Parliament this week, For-
eign Secretary Callaghan gave the most positive indi-
cation yet of the importance the Wilson government
attaches to membership in the European Community.
The US embassy in London believes Callaghan's speech
of June 11 put the opposition on the defensive and
laid the parliamentary groundwork for eventual accept-
ance of the improved terms of membership he hopes to
secure for Britain.
EC-Portugal: At the meeting last week between
President Giscard and Chancellor Schmidt, the two
leaders agreed that Portugal's membership in the EC
would be welcome in principle. If the Portuguese are
able to carry through on their present political
course, the Germans and the French believe that full,
rather than associate, membership would be warranted.
Despite the cordial attitude of the EC toward the new
Portuguese government, there is concern among the
members that Portugal's economic and political prob-
lems will prove to be very difficult to resolve.
(continued)
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Thailand: The Sanya government's offer to raise
the minimum wage to a figure just under worker de-
mands has failed to defuse unrest in Bangkok; stu-'
dent and labor demonstrators in large numbers again
took to the streets this morning. Minor violence
has occurred, according to Thai police messages, and
the danger of serious disorders clearly has increased.
Similar pressures played a large part in bringing
down Sanyais first government last month. He has
been reluctant to crack down on demonstrators and
might resign before turning to the police or army
to restore order.
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