THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 16 JULY 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014850
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: July 16, 1975

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The President's Daily Brief
July 16, 1975
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Exempt from general
declauification schedule of EO. 11652
exemption category 5B(1),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
" 111
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July 16, 1975
? Table of Contents
Egypt: Foreign Minister Fahmi yesterday declared
that Egypt cannot now agree to renew the UN
mandate which expires on July 24. This is
clearly designed to give a push to the nego-
tiations for a new Sinai disengagement agree-
ment. (Page 1)
Portugal: The Socialists' first mass rally since
leaving the government was held without in-
cident. (Page 3)
Angola: The resignation from the government of the
chief representative of the National Front for
the Liberation of Angola effectively destroys
the transitional political arrangement that
has existed in the territory for the past six
months. (Page 5)
Notes: Australia; India; China (Pages 6 and 7)
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EGYPT
Egyptian Foreign Minister Fahmi yes-
terday informed UN Secretary General WaZd-
heim that Egypt cannot now agree to renew
the mandate, which expires on July 24, for
stationing UN forces in the Sinai. Fahmi
claimed that Israel is using the UN pres-
ence to perpetuate its occupation of Egyp-
tian territory. The timing of the Egyptian
notification is clearly designed to signal
the 'limits of Egypt's patience and to put
more steam into the negotiating process.
To back up its argument, Egypt
has put its armed forces on alert.
In his letter to Waldheim and in a later press
conference in Cairo, Fahmi clearly left open the
possibility that real progress toward a Sinai dis-
engagement agreement before the expiration date
might alter Egypt's position. He said that Egypt
is not calling for the removal of the UN forces
and seemed to imply that the Egyptians would not
necessarily object if the UN Security Council re-
newed the mandate without Egypt's express consent.
He also seemed to be saying that Israel and the US
still have time to alter Egypt's decision.
In his press conference, Fahmi said Egypt still
welcomes US efforts to mediate a disengagement agree-
ment. He also laid much of the responsibility for
pressuring Israel on the UN. Egyptian media have
shown obvious chagrin at Israeli Prime Minister
Rabin's statement last weekend that an interim
agreement could take weeks or even months to ne-
gotiate.
(continued)
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Fahmi's formulation serves a dual purpose
for the Egyptians. It avoids both directly pro-
voking a breakdown in negotiations and some of the
stigma that would accompany an eventual resort to
military action if Cairo comes to believe that ne-
gotiations are leading nowhere.
Israeli officials, in their initial comments
to the press, have confined themselves to reiter-
ating Tel Aviv's standard position; i.e., Israel
will not be pressured into an agreement with Egypt
under the threat of deadlines and recognizes no
connection between dates such as that for the ex-
piration of the UN mandate and the current indirect
negotiations with Egypt.
Jerusalem Radio's international service, in
a broadcast prior to the Egyptian announcement,
claimed Israeli government officials would regard
the expiration of the UN mandate as a "technical
violation" of the disengagement agreement, not
significant in itself.
In an apparent effort to force a decision
quickly, however, Tel Aviv reportedly has asked
the UN Security Council to extend the mandate for
six more months.
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PORTUGAL
No violent incidents were reported
yesterday as thousands of Socialists held
their first mass rally since they with-
drew from the government last Friday.
Tensions remain high in Lisbon, however,
and mounting political and economic prob-
lems may push political activists of
all stripes to consider the use of force.
the Socialists must be prepared to defend themselves
against the Communist Party's militia and the pro-
communist Portuguese Democratic Movement's "urban
army,"
the Portuguese army is too disorganized by its
own internal power struggles to be able to deal ef-
rectively with actions initiated by the political
parties.
Since the unsuccessful coup attempt on March
11, Portuguese plotters both inside and outside the
country have generally operated on the assumption
that a new move to topple the regime could not suc-
ceed until economic deterioration had completely
eroded popular support for the government.
most dissident groups be-
lieve this point will not be reached for another
several months and are planning accordingly.
Any attempt to move up the timetable to take
advantage of the present situation would risk the
same kind of poorly prepared and uncoordinated
effort that led to the debacle in March and the
Armed Forces Movement's subsequent sharp turn to
the left.
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Azoreans claim to represent the sep-
aratist movement on the islands that a revolt there
will come within the next few weeks. The separatists
claim that the revolt will be supported by army
troops in the Azores, most of whom are native
Azoreans. They seem convinced that Lisbon could not
quash a revolt so far from the mainland.
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ANGOLA
The resignation from the govern-
ment of Johnny Eduardo Pinnock, chief
representative of the National Front
for the Liberation of Angola,effectively
destroys the transitional political ar-
rangement that has existed in the ter-
ritory for the past six months. The
Front has reportedly withdrawn its
forces from Luanda after almost a week
of heavy fighting with the Popular
Movement for the Liberation of Angola.
Pinnock, who fled Luanda on Monday, made his
announcement from Kinshasa. He also generally con-
firmed an earlier report that Agostinho Neto had
been ousted as president of the Popular Movement
for the Liberation of Angola, stating that the
Movement had been taken over by "extremist elements."
The Front's withdrawal from Luanda apparently
has produced a lull in the fighting. According to
Portuguese military officials, 5,000 Front troops
are now advancing on the capital from northern
Angola. If these troops are indeed on their way,
they will have to pass through territory controlled
by the Popular Movement.
Portugal still has approximately 24,000 troops
in Angola, most of them stationed in and around the
capital. They have refused to intervene in the
recent fighting.
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NOTES
Australian Prime Minister Whitlam scored a
qualified victory on Monday when the Labor Party
caucus supported his dismissal of former deputy
prime minister Cairns.
Whitlam's satisfaction over caucus backing on
the sacking of Cairns was tempered, however, by its
selection of Overseas Trade Minister Frank Crean to
replace Cairns as deputy prime minister.(
/ The Labor
Party's narrow victory in state parliamentary elec-
tions in South Australia last weekend, following a
series of electoral reverses, gives some small com-
fort to the Whitlam administration and, for the time
being, eases pressures for national elections.
Indian
(continued)
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Top Secret
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