THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 28 JUNE 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007995
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 28, 1974

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP791100936A012100010052-5
The President's Daily Brief
June 28, 1974
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012100010052-5
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declalficEaTnpsc"hreodrnureeonf7.l0. 11652
exemption category 513(11,(2)0)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
June 28, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The fedayeen in southern Lebanon reportedly are
operating almost without restriction by the Beirut
government. (Page 1)
Moscow is taking further steps to recover lost
ground in the Middle East. (Page 2)
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Soviet
(Page
3)
The Lao Communists are worried that, for
time since the new coalition government's
the first
formation
nearly three months ago, they may be losing the
political initiative. (Page 4)
The Thai government has for the moment made some
gains in its drive against insurgents in the north-
east, where the insurgency problem has been most
acute. (Page 5)
The Soviets are getting ready to launch a Soyuz
spacecraft. (Page 6)
The future of the US base at Keflavik hinges on
the outcome of Iceland's parliamentary elections
this Sunday. (Page 6)
South Korean military forces have been placed on
alert after North Korean naval patrol boats sank
a South Korean police boat last night. (Page 6)
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FEDAYEEN-LEBANON
The fedayeen in southern Lebanon reportedly are
operating almost without restriction by the Beirut
government. Lebanese military officers recently
told a senior UN official that the army has abandoned
even the pretense of controlling the Palestinian
refugee camps within the country, and that it no
longer checks the movement of the fedayeen in south-
ern Lebanon unless the commandos appear at military
checkpoints on their own initiative.
The information from the UN official suggests
that the Lebanese have also discontinued even the
casual monitoring of fedayeen movements in southern
Lebanon that had been carried on over the past year.
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The army is unlikely to try to reinstate con-
trols unless Lebanese casualties from Israeli air
strikes increase sharply or Israel threatens to in-
vade southern Lebanon. Beirut so far has easily
parried demands for action against either the feda-
yeen or the Israelis from the growing number of
Lebanese--perhaps over 10,000--who have left their
homes in the south as a result of recent air and
artillery strikes.
In the absence of any move by the army to con-
trol the fedayeen, there is little chance that the
guerrillas will initiate action against the Lebanese
government. The fedayeen are preoccupied with their
own political problems and with defense against Is-
raeli reprisals.
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USSR - MIDDLE EAST
The Soviets are taking fresh steps to recover
lost ground in the Middle East.
A letter
from Brezhnev last week apparently set the stage for
Foreign Minister Fahmi's coming trip to Moscow to
discuss a summit.
The Soviets also are trying to consolidate rela-
tions with Syria and Iraq. Soviet Minister of In-
terior Shchelokov recently initialed an agreement in
Damascus providing for greater cooperation in security
affairs. Shchelokov had signed a similar agreement
in Baghdad in late March. The USSR also signed an
annual trade protocol with Iraq yesterday. The pro-
tocol was under negotiation for many months because
of disagreement over the price the Soviets would pay
for Iraqi oil.
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V.
*s.
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USSR
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LAOS
The Lao Communists are worried that, for the
first time since the new coalition government's
formation nearly three months ago, they may be los-
ing the political initiative. The coalition cabi-
net has not approved the comprehensive political
and economic proposals that Pathet Lao leader Sou-
phanouvong recently pushed through the Joint Na-
tional Political Council (JNPC). These proposals
have been sent to committee for further study, and
the Pathet Lao fear that non-Communist cabinet min-
isters will try to water them down significantly
and perhaps attempt to scuttle them altogether.
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NORTH
VIETNAM
?Savannakhet
556100 6-74
?.?
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THAILANn
The Sanya government has for the moment made
some gains in its drive against insurgents in the
northeast, where the insurgency problem has been
most acute.
Insurgent units consequently are
withdrawing temporarily from the town of Na Kae,
which for years has been the Communists' political
and military stronghold in the northeast. The in-
surgents reportedly are regrouping near the Lao
border, where they may have easier access to arms
and other supplies.
The government's gains are not likely to last.
A well-intended civic action program continues to
be hobbled by Bangkok's inattention to the security
situation in the countryside and by bureaucratic
infighting at both the government and local levels.
With the coming of the rainy season the army--as it
has in past years--probably will reduce its forces
in the field and thereby permit the insurgents to
resume their presence and influence in the villages.
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NOTES
USSR: The Soviets are getting ready to launch
a Soyuz spacecraft./
//The Soyuz will probably carry two
cosmonauts and attempt to rendezvous and dock with
the Salyut space station launched Monday. The space-
craft may be launched before President Nixon visits
"Star City," the cosmonaut training center.
Iceland: The future of the US base at Keflavik
hinges on the outcome of the parliamentary election
this Sunday in Iceland. Prospects for retaining the
base have improved. The campaign has pointed up the
dissatisfaction of many voters with the way the out-
going coalition handled the base negotiations. This
discontent has helped the opposition Independence
Party, Iceland's largest. The party issued a strong
statement on Sunday criticizing the outgoing govern-
ment's proposals to revise the defense agreement and
calling for retention of the base. The other opposi-
tion party leans toward retaining the base, and some
members of the outgoing coalition are trying to dis-
sociate themselves from past government policy. Since
no party is likely to win a majority, the election
will probably usher in a new coalition.
North Korea - South Korea: North Korean naval
patrol boats intercepted and apparently sank a South
Korean police boat last night off the east coast of
the demilitarized zone. Twenty-eight South Koreans
reportedly were killed. South Korean aircraft were
sent to the area to investigate the incident. As a
precaution, Seoul has placed its military on alert.
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Top Secret
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