THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 16 DECEMBER 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014980
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 16, 1975

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A013000010006-6
The President's Daily Brief
December 16, 1975
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5B( 11,(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
/... Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/14 : CIA-RDP79T00936A013000010006-6
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December 16, 1975
? Table' -of Contents
Lebanon: Security forces in Beirut have begun car-
rying out their assignments under the latest
cease-fire arrangement. (Page 1)
Cuba:
(Page 2)
A15eria - Spanish Sahara: Algeria is continuing to
improve its military posture and reinforce its
western border with Morocco and Spanish Sahara.
(Page 3)
Notes: Thailand-Cambodia; UN-Iceland-Britain
(Page 5)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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LEBANON
Security forces in Beirut have begun
carrying out their assignments under the
latest cease-fire arrangement.
They have taken over some vantage points in the
international hotel district from leftist Muslim
forces that had won control of much of the area.
The new cease-fire effort, worked out late Sunday
night by Prime Minister Karami and Palestinian leader
Arafat, differs from its predecessor only in that
it calls for the security forces rather than the
army to take up positions in the hotel district.
This was a concession to the leftists, who had re-
fused to relinquish their vantage points to the
army.
The Syrians have summoned a number of Lebanese
leaders to Damascus over the past ten days in an
effort to lay the groundwork for a deal to end the
fighting. Leftist leader Kamal Jumblatt, whose
allies have played a major role in the most recent
fighting, met with President Asad yesterday. Sy-
rian Foreign Minister Khaddam may soon go to Beirut
for broader mediation efforts.
Vital services in Beirut are beginning to
break down as a result of the months of fighting.
Telephone and telex links with Europe have been
broken, air services have been cut back, and short-
ages of food and other necessities are beginning
to be felt.
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CUBA
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Azores
(Port)
558963 12-75
NORTH
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
200 4?0 LISBON
STATUTE MILES PORI
Madeira Islands
(Part)
C3>
Canary Islands cc;
(Spain)
o
A ?
sea
ibrallar 0,e0
(U K Mediterr
echar
Tundouf ALGERIA (
EL AAIUN
SPANISH-
SAHARA
OUAKCHOTT
MAURITANIA
MAL
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ALGERIA - SPANISH SAHARA
Algeria is continuing to improve its
military posture and reinforce its western
border with Morocco and Spanish Sahara.
At present, these actions probably are intended
to exert psychological pressure on Rabat and to
strengthen Algeria's defensive capabilities as it
increases aid to the pro-independence Polisario
guerrillas opposing Morocco's move into Spanish
Sahara. At the same time, however, the military
measures enhance Algiers' ability to take more di-
rect military action.
Algeria has been making a concerted effort to
build its military inventory since mid-October when
King Hassan announced plans for the mass march into
Spanish Sahara. In early November, Algiers report-
edly signed a military aid agreement with Moscow
worth some $500 million/
Other recent Algerian actions include:
--Placement of cash orders in Paris for tents,
medicine, and surgical equipment.
--At least five overflights since December 7
of southern Morocco by Algerian fighter air-
craft based at Tindouf.
--Some reinforcement of troops in the same
area; information is fragmentary, however, and
the actual extent of the build-up along the
border is unknown.
(continued)
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_a_ 11 Ji.d?--1 a. J. 'I -A I IL!
Algerian President Boumediene would like to
see the Moroccans bogged down fighting a long and
costly insurgency. Economic and social development
is Boumediene's number one priority, however, and
he is not likely to favor action against Morocco
that would require an expensive outlay of resources.
Because Algeria has maintained that it has no ter-
ritorial claim on Sahara, it would be hard pressed
to justify any direct military action against Mo-
rocco. The Algerians believe that time works in
favor of liberation struggles and probably expect
the Polisario Front, following the Algerians' ex-
ample, to bear the brunt of its own struggle for
independence.
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A- L .? .S-4 N a- -a-
NOTES
A series of sharp clashes late last week be-
tween Thai and Cambodian forces has again raised
Local tensions on the border.
Publicly, both Bangkok and Phnom Penh are play-
ing down the significance of the incidents in order
to keep their newly improved relations on track.
The current dispute is almost certainly an isolated
incident. Such fighting is symptomatic of the "wild
west" atmosphere that pervades the border as the
result of rampant smuggling and years of officially
inspired hostility by both sides. Local antagonisms
undoubtedly will continue to smolder even though the
new regimes in Bangkok and Phnom Penh want rapproche-
ment.
The UN Security Council today may consider
Iceland's complaint against Britain following last
week's ramming incident inside Iceland's 12-mile
limit.
Reaction in Reykjavik to the incident, in which
an Icelandic patrol boat was rammed by a British
support ship, has been predictably sharp. Prime
Minister Hallgrimsson said the affair was "unusually
serious" and demonstrated British "recklessness and
violence." most officials are responding more stri-
dently to this incident than to previous cod war
skirmishes because it occurred within Iceland's 12-
mile zone, which Britain recognizes.
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Top Secret
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