THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 8 DECEMBER 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006466917
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 8, 1976

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The President's Daily Brief
December 8, 1976
2 25X1
Top. ScCaT
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Exempt frorn general
declassification schedule of E 0 11652
exemption category 51311),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
December 8, 1976
Table of Contents
Iran - South Yemen - Saudi Arabia: Iran may be considering lim-
ited military action against South Yemen if diplomatic ef-
forts fail to secure the release of a recently captured
Iranian fighter pilot. (Page 1)
Lebanon: Renewed tensions in southern and northern Lebanon may
further complicate efforts by the Syrian-dominated securit
forces to begin collecting heavy weapons.
(Page 2)
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Rhodesia: The Rhodesian guerrilla leaders who arrived in Geneva
last week to join the settlement conference have been play- 25X1
ing a low-key role. (Page 4)
Notes: USSR (underground nuclear test); Turkey-Cyprus; USSR
(space launch); China (Pages 5, 6, and 7)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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SAUDI .IRAQI
NEUTRAL ZONE
QATAR
?MANZ
EGf P T UNITED 11
ARAB
E RRAT E s 4
7r\ _
\
SAUDI ARABIA
Muscat
SUDAN
Plane shoot down area
ETHIOPIA ,
620767 12-76
Kilom 200
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
IRAN - SOUTH YEMEN -
SAUDI ARABIA: Iran may
be considering limited
military action against
South Yemen if diplo-
matic efforts fail to
secure the release of
a recently captured
Iranian fighter pilot.
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Iran has twice publicly threatened
unspecified "future actions" if
South Yemen does not return the pi-
lot of an Iranian F-4, one of two
aircraft downed by South Yemeni
antiaircraft fire on November 24.
The aircraft was on a probable re-
connaissance mission near Oman's
disputed border with South Yemen,
although Iran and Oman claim the
plane was unarmed and on a routine
training mission over Oman. The
pilot was captured and the co-pilot
killed during the incident.
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1
--continued
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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MEDITERRANEAN
SEA
620765 12-76
0 KILOMETERS 20
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
LEBANON: Renewed ten-
sions in southern and
northern Lebanon may
further complicate ef-
forts by the Syrian-
dominated security
forces to begin collect-
ing heavy weapons.
The Shah would have to weigh care-
fully the political costs of mili-
tary action against an Arab coun-
try--even an outsider such as South
Yemen--and consider larger ques-
tions such as how military action
would affect the future sale of
US arms to Iran. Nevertheless,
Iran's7
/repeated public warnings
that he would act alone to combat
radical influences in the Gulf
all suggest he is at times willing
to pay that price.
* * *
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Implementation of the plan for
disarmament has been delayed until 25X1
next week and may be set back fur-
ther if the tensions continue.
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In the wake of renewed fighting
between Israeli-backed Christian
troops and Palestinian and left-
ist forces in southern Lebanon,
Israel has stepped up its naval
patrols along the southern Leba-
nese coast.
2
--continued
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
,
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Israel's continuing warnings that
it will not tolerate the presence
of a non-Lebanese military force
to police the border area gives
President Sarkis little room to
find a compromise solution. There
is no Lebanese force capable of
maintaining security in the south,
and efforts to create a strictly
Lebanese force with an acceptable
balance of Christians and Muslims
would cause a potentially danger-
ous delay in implementing other
parts of the cease-fire agreement.
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e qua.ripartite committee of
Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and
Kuwait, set up at the Riyadh sum-
mit to interpret the Cairo accords,
is expected to meet this week.
Israel may be hoping that its pres-
ent attitude may encourage this
group to consider disarming Pal-
estinian units in the south. 25X1
3
--continued
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
RHODESIA: The Rhode-
sian guerrilla leaders
who arrived in Geneva
last week to join the
settlement conference
have been playing a
low-key role as part of
Robert Mugabe's nation-
alist delegation.
The US mission in Geneva reports
that Mugabe, leader of the Zim-
babwe African National Union dele-
gation, has appeared much more re-
laxed and confident since the ar-
rival of the military leaders.
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Nkomo has told the US mission that 25X1
he believes the guerrillas can be
more fully controlled now that
their leaders are at the confer-
ence. He hopes to take advantage
of their presence by resuming ne-
gotiations on military coordina- 25X1
tion between his own ZAPU forces
and the ZANU guerrillas.
Despite the outward harmony, there
are continuing reports of disunity
within the ZANU faction.
There may
be as many as five basic subgroups
within ZANU, and Mugabe's delega-
tion remains an extremely fragile
coalition.
4
--continued
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Semipalatinsk Test Area
i(Shagen River Test Site)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
The USSR conducted an
underground nuclear
test yesterday at the
Shagan River Test Site
at Semipalatinsk, Ka-
zakhstan.
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The Turkish government,
apparently concerned
over the possibility of
a new US proposal on
Cyprus, is accelerating
the expulsion of Greek
Cypriots still living
in the Turkish zone in
the north.
NOTES
This is the fourth test in this
general yield range at Shagan
River this year. It is the 17th
Soviet underground test in 1976--
about the same rate of testing as
in recent years.
The Turks had originally planned
to relocate most of the Greek Cyp-
riots by next summer, but the new
timetable reportedly calls for
moving most of those in the Turk-
ish zone--some 4,000--by the end
of the year. Another 4,000 have
been expelled during the year.
5
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The USSR evidently is
preparing for a manned
space launch this month,
perhaps as early as
next week.
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The Soviets appear to be preparing
to re-man the Salyut 5 space sta-
tion. If so, they probably will
send up a crew in a two-man Soyuz
vehicle. Salyut 5 is an opera-
tional intelligence collector that
has been in orbit since June. Two
cosmonauts were aboard the station
for 48 days in July and August; an
attempt to re-man Salyut 5 in mid-
October was not successful.
Alternatively, the pending opera-
tion could involve a manned test
of a new spacecraft. 25X1
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6
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1,7,,Indan dam
Oznese
Shuang-cheng-tzu ?
Missile Test Center
CHINA
620769 12-76 CIA
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
China launched a satel-
lite yesterday from the
Shuang-cheng-tzu mis-
sile test center.
* * *
The satellite has been confirmed
in orbit,
This is China's third space shot
since late summer. The others
were only partially successful or
failed. China's last successful
launched 25X1
in November 1975.
7
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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Top Secret
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