CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1952/05/04

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02692632
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: May 24, 2019
• Document Release Date: May 30, 2019
• Publication Date: May 4, 1952

���
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
%11leI ur k..,1-1.1! I.4
SECU INFORMATION
4 May 1952
Copy No. 52
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO. 61
NO CHANGE IN CLASS
1 ; DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AU1itt4.21L
nAld REVIEWER:
fi
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SECRET
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
SECUffY INFORMATION
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
Approved for Release: 2619/05/08 CO2692632
TtaiP SECRET
SUMMARY
GENERAL
I. French Foreign Office sees "technical motives" behind Soviet
airliner attack (page 3).
SOVIET UNION
2. Realignment of Soviet Far East Air Forces indicated (page 3).
FAR EAST
3. Tokyo May Day riot may cause repression of Japanese labor
(page 4).
4. Karen military leader negotiating in Rangoon (page 5).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
5. Iranian security officer fears attempt to assassinate Prime
Minister Mossadeq (page 5).
6. Soviet Ambassador absent from inauguration of Iranian Majlis
(page 6).
WESTERN EUROPE
7. French threaten to suspend Defense Community negotiations
(page 6).
LA TIN AMERICA
8. Argentina hesitant on recognition of Bolivia (page 7).
* * * *
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
TEECRET
3.5(c)
GENERAL
1. French Foreign Office sees "technical motives" behind Soviet airliner
attack:
The American Embassy in Paris reports tha3.3(h)(2)
the French Foreign Office, which firstbelieved
that the recent Soviet attack on a French air-
liner was made for political reasons, now agrees
with the US High Commissioner's office in Berlin that the attack, though
deliberate, had "technical motives."
When the Foreign Office spokesman read its
protest note aloud to the Counselor of the Soviet Embassy in Paris in
the absence of the Ambassador, the Counselor was apparently fearful
of accepting the responsibility, and refused the note as "reflecting on
the honor of the Red Army."
SOVIET UNION
2. Realignment of Soviet Far East Air Forces indicated:
a fighter division of the 9th Air
I Army, located in the Maritime Province and
Port Arthur-Dairen area, has peen transferred
to the Khabarovsk region. Iaircraft from all
3.3(h)(2)
three regiments of this division to be under 10th Air Army rather than
9th Air Army control. 3.3(h)(2)
Transfer of this division, if confirmed, in-
creases fighter strength in the Khabarovsk area to four divisions with
12 regiments and gives the 10th Air Army a total of 23 fighter regiments.
3
TOP ET
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2619/05/08 CO2692632
Comment: The suggested realignment of Soviet
Far East air forces is in line with indications of a buildup during the past
15 months of the 10th Air Army, whose zone of operations stretches from
the Khabarovsk area to the Chukotsk peninsula and includes Sakhalin and
the Kuril Islands. Whereas fighter strength in the 9th Air Army has re-
mained relatively stable since February 1951, the 10th Air Army has re-
ceived other significant unit reinforcements and has apparently been en-
gaged in jet conversion training at a faster rate than the 9th Air Army.
The transfer of three fighter regiments out of
the 9th Air Army may also be related to indications that the buildup of
the Chinese and North Korean air forces has reached proportions making
possible withdrawal of Soviet units involved in air defense of the Yalu
' River border.
FAR EAST
3, Tokyo May Day riot may cause repression of Japanese labor:
Ambassador Murphy in Tokyo reports that while
the hard core of Tokyo's May Day rioters was
obviously 'Communist, he is concerned because
the incident may serve as a pretext for repres-
sive actions threatening the healthy development
of the labor movement.
Non-Communist labor leaders have disclaimed
responsibility br the not, according to CINCFE. They fear that unless
they clearly disassociate themselves from the Communists, they may
become victims of the growing anti-Communist mood of the population.
Comment: The combined opposition of non-
Communist labor, the press, and Yoshida's political opposition has
until now prevented Diet passage of the Subversive Activities Bill, by
which the Communist Party may be curbed or even outlawed. The various
groups opposing the bill have seen in it the eventual means of their own
Suppression.
- 4 -
TOP RET
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
11/4teR SECRET
3.5(c)
4. Karen military leader
negotiating in Rangoon:
the Karen
insurgents was in Rangoon to negotiate the sur-
render of his forces.
Comment: There are two distinct Karen
commands, one in the Irrawaddy River delta around Rangoon and the
other in the eastern mountains.
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
strong likelihood of an early Karen-Communist alliance. The Burmese
Government may be trying to prevent such a development by serious
peace negotiations with the Karens.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
5. Iranian security officer fears attempt to assassinate Prime Minister
Mossadeq:
The Iranian official charged with security of 3.3(h)(2)
Majlis says that he "has been given clearly to
understand" that the terroristic Fedayan Islam
is planning to assassinate Prime Minister
ossa eq and other National Front leaders. The security official is
reportedly seeking a transfer, fearing that such an attempt might occur
in his jurisdiction.
5
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
111&13 'HET
3.5(c)
Comment: Mossadeq did not attend the opening
of the seventeenth Majlis on 27 April, presumably because of his earlier
expressed fears of an assassination attempt. The Fedayan Islam boasts
of its record of assassinations. Mossadeq, along with other National
Front leaders, has long been threatened by the organization.
6. Soviet Ambassador absent from inauguration of Iranian Majlis:
The absence of Soviet Ambassador Sadchikov
at the inauguration ceremony of the new Majlis
has aroused speculation in diplomatic circles
in Tehran.
Sadchikov reportedly had criticized Mossa-
deq's agreement to resume US military aid, and
his absence may have been intended as a warning
to Iran against this step. The possibility of
sharp propaganda attacks on Mossadeq and a
etween the two countries were suggested by the
although
the Soviet Embassy allegedly stated that Ambassador Sadchikov's absence
was caused by illness, responsible sources assert that he was "furious"
over the resumption of American military aid to Iran. The Russians
are reportedly making their strong displeasure known to "every Iranian
circle with which they are in contact."
WESTERN EUROPE
7. French threaten to suspend Defense Community negotiations:
seriousness"
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
A new French-German impasse has arisen 1r3.3(h)(2)
the European Defense Community conference,
creating a situation which the chief of the French
delegation has declared is "of the utmost
and forces his country to insist that initialing of the treaty
- 6 -
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632
be postponed. The head of the German delegation has suddenly refused
to accept a limitation of 18 months on the transitional period during
which each of the Defense Community's territorial military organizations
will cover the area of a member country and be under the command of a
national of that country.
While members of the German delegation have
told American Embassy officials in Paris that their chief is prepared to
modify his position, the Embassy advises that, should the French not be
satisfied, "there is no predicting" what drastic action they might take to
allay parliamentary fears of a revived German general staff.
Comment: The German Government is seeking
additional treaty concessions in order to overcome the Bundestag' s
growing opposition to restrictions of German sovereignty in the nearly
completed texts on contractual relations with the Allies.
LATIN AMERICA
8. Argentina hesitant on recognition of Bolivia:
Comment: Argentina has not yet recognized
Bolivia, although government-controlled newspapers in Argentina have
highly praised the revolt. Argentina may be awaiting the outcome of the
current struggle for power within the Nationalist Revolutionary Move-
ment; or, sensitive to charges of aiding the revolt, it may be waiting for
other countries to extend recognition.
- 7 -
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692632