THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 AUGUST 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006466741
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: August 17, 1976

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The President's Daily Brief
August 17, 1976
To
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E 0 11652
exemption category 5B( 1)12)13)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
A
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LIBYA: A large number
of troops, armored per-
sonnel carriers, and
tanks reportedly are
moving from both east-
ern and western Libya
in the direction of the
capital of Tripoli. We
are not certain what
this activity portends.
LATE ITEM
There are several possible explana-
tions: The troops may be used to
intimidate potential opponents of
President Qadhafi during his ab-
sence--Qadhafi is attending the
nonaligned conference in Sri Lanka;
the troops' final destination may
be the Libyan-Egyptian border--the
two countries continue to exchange
propaganda attacks and the Egyp-
tians have built up their forces
on the border; the troops may be
practicing for a military parade
planned for September 1; or, a
possible coup attempt may be under
way.
The US embassy in Tripoli believes
this last explanation is the least
likely, and we have seen no other
indications that a coup is being
attempted. As of 0600 EDT, Libyan
radio transmissions monitored by
FBIS remained normal.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
August 17, 1976
Table of Contents
Greece-Turkey: Turkish Prime Minister Demirel announced yester-
day that the Sismik will begin surveying Thursday in an
area of the Aegean about which Greece may be especially sen-
sitive. (Page 1)
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Lebanon: Arab negotiators have renewed attempts to reinvigorate
the Syrian-Palestinian accord signed in late July. (Page 2)
Cuba-Iraq :1
France :J
Notes: Rhodesia-Mozambique-Zambia; Rhodesia-Libya; USSR-Namibia;
Thailand (Pages 4, 5, and 6)
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YUGO\SI?AVIA
24 BULGARIA
Lake
Ohrid L
Luke
Prespu
ALBANIA
Samothrace
Sismik I first area
of operation,
-40 ?
?
36-?
ACE
A--Dardanelles
Istanbul.
SEA OF MARMARA
Limnos? ,Sismik I second area
cof operation
a,
IONIAN
SEA
GREECE
- 25 50 75 Miles
I
0 ,25 50 75 Kilometers
20
so
Contested area
0 of operation
Lesbos
ATHENS
Cormill Canal
co
Chios
-7
.Sam
C:7 0
8
co Cyclades 0
IC
0
S>
SEA OF CRETE
ro'
0 Kos
0
Rhodes
6
K-.)9
?40-
TURKEY
28
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GREECE-TURKEY: Turkish
Prime Minister Demirel
announced yesterday
that the Sismik will
begin surveying Thurs-
day in an area of the
Aegean about which
Greece may be especially
sensitive.
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The International Court
of Justice met yester-
day to consider Athens'
unilateral appeal over
the dispute.
Turkey has not revealed the ship's
precise itinerary, although it has
committed itself to do so 48 hours
before the ship's departure.
Prime Minister Caramanlis, how-
ever, has left open an option fo;:?,,
a change in policy should Ankara?uAl
send the Sismik into Greek claimed
waters or into sensitive areas.
The Court is likely to take sev-
eral weeks before ruling on the
Greek request for interim measures
and several months to decide on
the substance of the dispute.
The UN Security Council will re-
sume its debate on the issue today.
--continued
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MEDITERRANEAN
SEA
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LEBANON: Arab negotia-
tors have renewed at-
tempts to reinvigorate
the Syrian-Palestinian
accord signed in late
July. No coordination
is evident, however,
among the several Arab
attempts to restart ne-
gotiations.
Christian forces have
intensified their of-
fensive against Pales-
tinian positions in the
mountains east of Bei-
rut.
CUBA-IRAQ(
/
A Palestinian delegation talked
with Syrian officials over the
weekend about the agreement with
no apparent result. The Libyans
have also reinserted themselves in
the negotiating picture. Libya's
acting foreign minister arrived in
Lebanon yesterday for discussions
with Palestinian and leftist lead-
ers on reviving the quadripartite
truce committee. He had talked
with the Syrians in Damascus on
Saturday.
The commander of the Arab League
security force is reported to be
discussing with Christian and Pal-
estinian leaders the possibility
of moving some of the force to the
mountains east of Beirut to sepa-
rate Christian and Palestinian
forces there. The Christians were
reported yesterday to be reinforcing
their militia and continuing heavy
attacks on Palestinian positions.
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FRANCE:
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Lilongwe'
Lusaka
Zambia
Lake
anba
Southwest
Africa Mem" a
Mozambique
Mozambique
Channel
Botswana
Road
Railroad
Sout
0 200 MILES
- 0 200 KILOMETERS
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
Satellite photography
shows that Rhodesia is
building two airstrips--
one near the Mozambican
border and the second
near the Zambian border.
Both will be capable
of handling jet air-
craft.
Rho-
desia
Libya
NOTES
Coverage showed a
3,000-meter (9,480-foot) graded
runway in the early stages of con-
struction in southeastern Rhodesia.
According to satellite photography
of the last 18 months, work has
also been done on an airfield in
the northwest, only 54 kilometers
(34 miles) from the Zambian border.
The proximity of the new airstrips
to areas of anti-guerrilla opera-
tions will give Rhodesian aircraft
longer operating time over targets
in both Mozambique and Zambia and
would permit strikes against more
distant targets in Mozambique.
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The USSR has reportedly
agreed to provide addi-
tional military aid to
Namibia's South-West
Africa People's Organi-
zation.
The Thai government,
concerned that the re-
turn of exiled former
deputy prime minister
Praphat could set off
student protests, said
today there is no sub-
stantial evidence Pra-
phat is in Thailand.
* * *
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A SWAPO delegation met with Soviet
party secretary Ponomarev in Mos-
cow last week.
the
delegation requested--and the So-
viets promised--additional arms.
The arms talks may have been timed
to coincide with a constitutional
conference now underway in Namibia.
According to press reports, South
African Prime Minister Vorster
might back a move to invite repre-
sentatives of SWAPO to attend.
Moscow may reason that additional
military support at this time
would ensure SWAPO's refusal to
participate. The Soviets regard
the conference as a South African
attempt to forestall Namibian aspi-
rations to independence.
The USSR could also be trying to
weaken SWAPO's dependence on Chi-
nese arms by increasing its mili-
tary support.
* * *
The statement followed an emer-50x1
gency cabinet meeting called to
discuss the matter, and it flatly
contradicts Prime Minister Seni's
statement yesterday(
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Praphat was a target of student
protests in 1973, which brought
down then-prime minister Thanom's
military regime. Government offi-
cials are worried that Praphat en-
joys support within the Thai mili-
tary, which has shown increasing
impatience with the civilian gov-
ernment.
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