THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 11 SEPTEMBER 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006466843
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 11, 1976

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The President's Daily Brief
September 11, 1976
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E 0 I 1652
exemption category. 5 B( 1).121,(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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Egypt-Li bya;
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
September 11, 1976
Table of Contents
Lebanon: Interior Minister Shamun, the most extreme of the major
Christian leaders, apparently agreed during talks in Syria
this week to allow an orderly transfer of power to president-
elect Sarkis. (Page 2)
Iraq-Syria: Baghdad has reduced its forces in western Iraq, and
we have indications that further withdrawals are planned.
(Page 3)
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South Africa: The spread of rioting this week has complicated 25X1
Prime Minister Vorster's efforts to reach a consensus within
the ruling National Party on a strategy to reduce South Af- 25X1
rica's mounting racial tensions. (Page 3)
South Africa - Israel:
(Page 4)
Spain: Prime Minister Suarez' reform program, announced last
night, is a major step toward an accommodation with the op-
position. (Page 4)
Notes: China; Yugoslavia-Iraq (Pages 7 and 8)
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EGYPT-LIBYA:
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LEBANON: Interior Min-
ister Shamun, the most
extreme of the major
Christian leaders, ap-
parently agreed during
talks in Syria this
week to allow an or-
derly transfer of power
to president-elect Sar-
kis on September 23.
Egypt is now attempting
to become centrally in-
volved in the Lebanese
diplomatic negotiations.
Syrian President Asad and leaders
of the larger Christian Phalanges
Party believe Sarkis should take
office before new political or mil-
itary initiatives are launched.
Shamun and Asad reportedly dis-
cussed the possibility of moving
"symbolic" Syrian units into Chris-
tian-held areas of Lebanon for a
possible new military push to be
made if the political stalemate
continues after September 23.
Such a move would be intended to
support the fiction that Syrian
troops are in Lebanon as a peace-
keeping force rather than to as-
sist only one side.
Palestinian and Lebanese leftist
and Muslim leaders have recently
consulted with Egyptian officials
in Cairo. Foreign Minister Fahmi
is scheduled to receive a number
of other Lebanese politicians in
the near future, including Phalan-
ges chief Jumayyil and socialist
leader Jumblatt.
Cairo has had little success in
limiting Syria's influence in Leb-
anon by supporting the Lebanese
leftists and the Palestinians and
presumably is now hoping it can
counter Damascus more effectively
with assertive diplomatic action.
Egypt may also be working to en-
sure that it will be included in
any peace talks that might follow
Sarkis' installation and to pre-
pare for the Arab summit that is
scheduled to consider the Lebanon
problem late next month.
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IRAQ-SYRIA: Baghdad
has reduced its forces
in western Iraq by
about 10,000 men, and
we have indications
that additional with-
drawals are planned.
SOUTH AFRICA: The
spread of rioting this
week has complicated
Prime Minister Vorster 's
efforts to reach a con-
sensus within the rul-
ing National Party on
a strategy to reduce
South Africa's mounting
racial tensions.
Iraq began moving troops toward
the Syrian border in early June,
apparently in an effort to relieve
Syrian pressure on Palestinian and
leftist forces in Lebanon, and has
maintained a force of 70,000 to
80,000 troops in the west since
early July.
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For several weeks the South Afri-
can press has been speculating
that Vorster intends, through
closed-door sessions with members
of Parliament and the provincial
councils, to gain broad support
for some modifications of the
apartheid system. A special Na-
tional Party caucus did convene
yesterday.
This week Vorster told a provin-
cial party congress that he would
consider measures to alleviate
poor living conditions among non-
whites, but he said that they had
no right to participate in any
white political institution. He
explicitly ruled out representa-
tion of "coloreds" or Asians in
Parliament.
The Prime Minister may have taken
this tough stand in order to sof-
ten opposition among the rank-and-
file of his party to economic and
social reforms that he had previ-
ously proposed.
Yesterday the government did an-
nounce limited concessions as the
Colored Representative Council con-
vened. The meeting, however, was
boycotted by members of the Labor
Party, the stronger of two "colored"
parties in the council, because of
the detention without trial of the
party chairman.
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SOUTH AFRICA - ISRAEL:
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SPAIN: Spanish Prime
Minister Adolfo Suarez
took a major step to-
ward accommodating op-
position demands last
night when he announced
the general lines of
his government's reform
program.
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In a televised statement following
cabinet approval of the program,
Suarez said that all major re-
forms--such as overhauling the
state-run labor organization,
granting greater autonomy to the
regions, and working out the power
relationship between parliament
and government--would be left to
a bicameral legislature to be
elected by direct, universal suf-
frage before next June. In effect,
this would make the new parliament,
which is to include the democratic
opposition, a constituent assembly.
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The major stumbling
block will be getting
the reform program ap-
proved by two-thirds of
the current, rightist-
dominated parliament,
but the government
seems optimistic.
,
Suarez' program also incorporates
several other concepts called for
by the opposition as guarantees of
democratic progress:
--abolition of the seats held
by 40 members of the current
parliament appointed for life by
General Franco;
--some form of proportional rep-
resentation;
--regional representation in the
upper house;
--lower house initiative for con-
stitutional reforms.
The role of the present government
will be to prepare for the legis-
lative election. Suarez did not
specify how this would be done,
but according to an advance brief-
ing sent to the US embassy, the
government intends to submit its
proposals for holding the election
and establishing a bicameral leg-
islature to the current parliament
and subsequently to a referendum.
Armed with a popular mandate,
Suarez will issue electoral laws
by decree.
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Relations between government and
opposition seem to have improved
dramatically since Suarez began
meeting with leftist leaders, but
legalization of the Communist Party
remains one of the main points of
contention. The government, point-
ing to military inflexibility on
the issue, maintains that its
hands are tied. There have been
recent signs, however, that the
Communist-dominated Workers Com-
missions may be legalized along
with other clandestine labor un-
ions, perhaps as early as next
week.
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Yugoslavia
ir_g_
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NOTES
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