CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1952/03/27

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02692613
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: May 24, 2019
• Document Release Date: May 30, 2019
• Publication Date: March 27, 1952

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SEC INFORMATION
27 March 1952
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
I DEC LASSMED
CLASS. CANED TO:
NEXT REVIEW
AUTH: HR 70.2
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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SECUB1FY INFORMATION
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
I. Comment on Asian attendance at Moscow Economic Conference
(page 3).
FAR EAST
2. North Korean Army unit disproves police report of BW incident
(page 3).
SOUTH ASIA
3. Soviet Union interested in French plans to exploit Afghan cal
(page 4).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4. Syria plans dissolution of political parties and restrictions on
Western business (page 5).
5, Egyptian Cabinet will not contest elections unless agreement with
Britain is reached (page 5).
6. Arab pressure for UN discussion of Tunisian problems increases
(page 6).
EASTERN EUROPE
7. Thirty percent of Yugoslav combat officers reported pro-Cominform
(page 6).
WESTERN EUROPE
8. Italian Foreign Office fears effects of the Trieste situation on the
government's stability (page 7).
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GENERAL
1.. Comment on Asian attendance at Moscow Economic Conference:
The interest which the Moscow Rennnmi
Conference holds for underdeveloped countries is revealed
An influential Iranian delegation, which
includes the son-in-law of Mossadeq and an Iranian of avowedly pro-
American sympathies, reportedly will attend the conference with the
government's "blessing."
A Burmese delegation composed of both
extreme rightists and fellow-travelers is on its way to Moscow. Burma's
chief rice trader is a member. During a stop-over in Rangoon a spokes-
man referred to the "foreign trade" mission of the delegation.
The Indonesian Government rejected a sugges-
tion to subsidize seven delegates to the conference, and the Indonesian
participants will proceed to Moscow on an individual basis but with
governmental encouragement.
FAR EAST
North Korean Army unit disproves police report of BW incident:
a civilian police officer had discovered
an American bacteria bomb. The policeman's
findings apparently were-based on the coincidence of a UN bombing
attack and the appearance of "flies" in the area.
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A North Korean military sanitation officer, sent
to affirm this incident, reported that the policeman's report was false and
that the flies "were not caused from the bacterial weapon but from the
fertilizers on the place."
Comment: This is the first observed instance
in which a Communist unit has investigated and entered a negative report
on an alleged American use of BW agents.
SOUTH ASIA
3. Soviet Union interested in French plans to exploit Afghan oil:
3.3(h)(2)
Early in March the Soviet Ambassador in Kabul
initiated with the French Ambassador a discus-
sion of French plans to obtain an oil drilling
concession in northern Afghanistan. The Soviet
Ambassador pointed out the practical difficulties
in operation and transportation which would be faced by Western conces-
sionaires, and remarked that the USSR could exploit Afghan oil fields with
much greater ease.
He also indicated that the USSR was closely
following the progress of the Afghan oil question and that it had political
as well as economic aspects of the problem in mind. The French Am-
bassador, apparently worried by the Soviet approach, urged in two cables
that his government reconsider the advisability of undertaking oil drilling
operations in northern Afghanistan.
Comment: Heretofore, the USSR has displayed
its interest In the Afghan oil question merely by its propaganda output,
accusing Western "imperialists" of infiltrating the Afghan economic
system and of conducting intelligence activities along the Soviet frontier.
The Afghan oil deposits are adjacent to the Russian border.
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The present Soviet move is likely to lessen the
French desire to obtain an Afghan oil concession. It may also lead to a
repetition of the British "go-slow" advice, tendered to the United States
in mid-1951. Plans for oil exploitation by two American and one French
company are under Afghan consideration. Russian pressure might eventu-
ally convince the Afghan Government that development of its oil resources
near the Soviet border would be an unwise political move.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4.. Syria plans dissolution of political parties and restrictions on Western
business:
Syrian Army Chief of Staff Shishakli intends
to dissolve all Syrian political parties and to
stop publication of all but two of Syria's news-
papers by 31 March,
In addition, the American Minister in Beirut
reports that the Syrian Government plans to
require all "foreign concessions" to be operated by Syrian-organized
companies with a majority of Syrian directors.
Comment: There are approximately thirty
daily newspapers in Syria. The reported restrictions would supplement
measures recently adopted by the military regime in Damascus to elimi-
nate domestic opposition.
5. Egyptian Cabinet will not contest elections unless agreement with Britain is
reached:
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
Prime Minister Hilali's cabinet has decided 3.3(h)(2)
that, in the absence of an agreement with Britain,
it will not contest the 18 May Egyptian elections
and will resign immediately thereafter. The
Egyptian Foreign Minister has stated, however, that in the event of an
agreement, Hilali will stay in the elections and attempt to secure popular
approval.
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Comment: There have been conflicting reports
on the intentions of the Hilali cabinet in the event the Anglo-Egyptian nego-
tiations should fail. The weight of evidence suggests that the government
will resign in this eventuality and let the Wafd return to power, although
British officials believe that this apparent readiness to resign may be a
form of blackmail.
. Arab pressure for UN discussion of Tunisian problems increases:
The French Foreign Office informed the
Resident General in Tunisia on 22 March that
the Pakistani representative on the UNSecurity
Council had urged that France and Tunisia come
to an agreement as soon as possible, since he
was under continuous pressure from other members of the Arab-Asian
bloc to present the Tunisian case for Council discussion.
Comment: Reimposition of censorship and
the arrest on 25 March of Tunisian Prime Minister Chenik and three of
his Ministers, including the Bey's son-in-law, will undoubledly lessen the
chances of successful negotiation of the recent French offer of a reform
program and increase the pressure for Security Council action. The
measures may also cause reconsideration of the problem by various
Security Council members such as Turkey, Greece, the Netherlands and
Brazil, whose tentative support of France has been revealed in French
diplomatic communications.
EASTERN EUROPE
7. Thirty percent of Yugoslav combat officers reported pro-Cominform:
superiors that thirty percent of the officers
in combat units are pro-Cominform. The general reportedly recom-
mended that increased attention be given to political and ideological
orientation lectures for officers.
3.3(h)(2)
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Comment: Ten or twelve army colonels were
arrested in Macedonia last November for allegedly holding anti-Western
views. Moreover, a generally reliable source reported in February that
all Yugoslav army officers known to have Cominform sympathies were
being arrested and tried in complete secrecy.
Although pro-Soviet sentiment or opportunism
in the army may be greater than generally estimated, informed Western
observers believe that the Yugoslav Army on the whole is loyal to the
Tito regime.
WESTERN EUROPE
8. Italian Foreign Office fears effects of the Trieste situation on the govern-
ment's stability:
A high official of the Italian Foreign Office
believes that the Trieste situation could have
"most grave consequences" for the West as
a whole and the Italian Government in particular.
He states that unless the British make "some gesture" in Trieste, the
De Gasperi government may have to make further anti-British moves in
order to avoid collapse.
3.3(h)(2)
Both the American and British Embassies in
Rome are convinced that Premier de Gasperi is facing a real parliamentary
crisis which will force him to take a strong stand in order to save his
government.
Comment: The Italians are undoubtedly using
the threat of a cabinet crisis to wring concessions from the Western powers
on Trieste. There is little likelihood of the government falling on the
Trieste issue, although its foreign policy may be subjected to a heated
parliamentary debate.
On the other hand, the rising tide of national-
ism throughout the country may threaten Italy's close collaboration with
the West in NATO, as well as in the Schuman Plan, which has not yetbeen
approved by the lower house.
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