THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 MAY 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006015114
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 20, 1976

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The President's Daily Brief
May 20, 1976
2
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category, 5/1(
declassified on& on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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- .
May 20, 1976
Table of Contents
Lebanon: Leftist leader Jumblatt finally met with president-
elect Sarkis yesterday and concluded a tentative agreement
on a cease-fire. (Page 1)
Syria-Egypt: The meeting of prime ministers scheduled to begin
in Riyadh yesterday was postponed indefinitely at the last
minute. (Page 1)
Romania-USSR: There are rumors in Bucharest that reserves are
being called up because of a fear of Soviet intervention.
(Page 2)
China: Two Chinese oceanographic research ships are about to re-
turn home after an unprecedented seven-week voyage some 4,000
nautical miles from the China coast. (Page 3)
Notes: USSR; Portugal; Canada-India; USSR-Mozambique (Pages 4
and 5)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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?111...-11J.M.JVL/.1.. V -M. -A. ? L./
LEBANON: Leftist leader
Kamal Jumblatt finally
met with president-
elect nyas Sarkis yes-
terday and, according
to press reports, con-
cluded a tentative
agreement on a cease-
fire.
SYRIA-EGYPT: The meet-
ing of Egyptian and
Syrian prime ministers
scheduled to begin in
Riyadh yesterday was
postponed indefinitely
at the last minute.
We have not yet received details
on the agreement, but unconfirmed
press reports claim that Sarkis
guaranteed Christian adherence to
the truce and promised that Presi-
dent Franjiyah would resign if
the cease-fire holds for eight
days. The truce apparently will
go into effect by Friday.
Jumblatt said in a statement last
night that he had not officially
accepted the truce proposal and
that final approval had to await
a meeting of leftist representa-
tives.
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on Tuesday Jumblatt and his allie
had agreed in principle to a truce.
They reportedly were prepared to
accept a cease-fire followed by a
"roundtable" dialogue with Sarkis
as chairman.
\Syrian Presio'
vi
dent Asad also agreed to this for-
mula. Phalangist leader Pierre
Jumayyil--who has recently been co-
operating closely with Damascus--
announced yesterday that he would
also go along with the dialogue
proposal.
Heavy fighting continued in the
mountains east of Beirut yesterday,
despite the press announcement of
the truce. Neither side, however,
has made any significant territo-
rial advances in the past few days.
No explanation was given for the
postponement, but an Egyptian news
service report suggested that the
initiative for the delay was
Cairo's. Egypt had insisted that
it would not entertain discussion
of the Sinai agreement during the
1
--continued
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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ROMANIA-USSR: There
are rumors in Bucharest
that Romania is calling
up reservists because
of a fear of Soviet
intervention.
meeting, and it is possible that
Sadat refused to participate with-
out assurances that the subject25X1
would not be raised.
The Saudi and Kuwaiti foreign min-
isters are now scheduled to visit
Cairo on Saturday, presumably in
an attempt to get the meeting back
on track. The Kuwaiti foreign min-
ister said yesterday he believed
the meeting would open late next
week.
There is no evidence that a gen-
eral mobilization of Romanian
forces is in progress, but some
reservists may have been called
up to participate in regular spring
field training exercises. There
has been no indication of any un-
usual Soviet military activity 25x1
along the Romanian border.
President 25X1
Ceausescu, when faced with in-
creased pressure from Moscow in
the past, has used the tactic of
pointing to a magnified Soviet
menace in order to strengthen his
country's resolve and show national
unity.
2
--continued
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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CHINA: The two Chinese
oceanographic research
ships are about to re-
turn to their home port
in the Canton area af-
ter an unprecedented
seven-week voyage some
4,000 nautical miles
from the China coast.
The current spate of rumors has
caused some panic buying by Roma-
nian citizens.
Peking claimed the ships were en-
gaged in peaceful hydrographic and
meteorolo ? ical work.
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3
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SWEDEttl
Moscow
V,19,
POLAND
Orenburg
BULGARIA
Morod
EAST GERMANY
?Bar
3.2.? 320
Aleksandrov Gay
ROMANIA
BULGARIA
TURKEY
o Compressor Station
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J. V -L. ?
The USSR has begun or-
dering equipment from
Western Europe for the
22 compressor stations
to be installed along
the Orenburg gas pipe-
Zine.
Socialist leader Mario
Soares of Portu_gal ap-
pears to have made sub-
stantial progress to-
ward a post-election
arrangement with the
two rival democratic
parties by successfully
playing upon their de-
sire to minimize Commu-
nist Party influence in
the next government.
NOTES
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Because of the lengthy negotiations
for the compressors, full operating
capacity of the pipeline will not
be attained until late 1980 or
1981. It will stretch 2,750 km
(1,708 miles) from the large Oren-
burg natural gas field in the
southern Urals to Uzhgorod at the
Czech border, and at full capacity
will supply Europe with up to 29
billion cubic meters of gas annu-
ally.
Following an amicable meeting with
Soares, Popular Democratic Party
chief Sa Carneiro, an er,stwhile
foe of Soares' plans to form a mi-
nority Socialist government, now
says he has promised his party's
"quiet cooperation." The Social-
ists are also conferring frequently
with the center-right Social Demo-
cratic Center.
The talks so far seem to ,suggest
that the two rival parties are in-
creasingly inclined to rally be-
hind key Socialist policies and
programs, although the details
will still have to be worked out
in the legislature on a case-by-
case basis.
4
--continued
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11. A. JC-.1 V AL/ .1. V J. V I. ? J.-./
Canada's decision not
to resume nuclear assis-
tance to India removes
a major constraint on
India's conduct of a
second nuclear test.
The Soviets have given
a warm welcome to Mozam-
bican President Samora
Machel, who arrived in
Moscow on Monday for
an official state visit.
The Canadian cabinet rejected a
proposed agreement for resuming
Canadian aid, initialed in New
Delhi last March
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India is likely to resume its test-
ing program, but the timing of the
next test will be influenced heav-
ily by political factors. Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi may decide
to defer the test because it could
jeopardize an agreement with Pak-
istan to restore diplomatic rela-
tions and transportation links by
late July. New Delhi may also
calculate that an early test might
adversely affect upcoming hearings
by the US Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission on the release of fuel for
an Indian power reactor.
Soviet media have heaped effusive
praise on Machel, emphasizing that
the USSR is the first non-African
country to receive the President
since Mozambique gained indepen-
dence last June.
At the welcoming banquet, Soviet
President Podgorny praised Moscow's
"consistent and principled" record
of support for African liberation
struggles and clearly implied that
the Soviet Union was prepared to
continue making military aid avail-
able to liberation forces in south-
ern Africa. No mention has yet
been made of new military or eco-
nomic aid for the Machel regime.
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Top Secret
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