CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1958/08/11

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02987882
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: January 27, 2020
• Document Release Date: January 30, 2020
• Publication Date: August 11, 1958

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TUFP�SEVICLIT 3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
11 August 1958
Copy No. C- 57
CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
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11 AUGUST 1958
L THE COMMUNIST BLOC
Soviet diplomat now suggests Far
Eastern issues as topic for sum-
mit meeting.
IL ASIA-AFRICA
Jordan - Reports persist of im-
pending revolt against King Husayn
who is determined to fight. Prime
Minister Rifai has plan to abandon
West Jordan to Israel if worst
comes.
Nasir hews to standard line in
conversation with Murphy.
Lebanon- Killing of pro- Chamoun
politicians raises possibility of
more violence and Christian-
Moslem feuding.
Sudan and Ethiopia making Plans
to counter UAR influence.
0
0 Cambodia - There are a number
of reports of plans to overthrow
Sihanouk because of his recogni-
tion of Peiping.
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
11 August 1958
DAILY BRIEF
I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC
*Summit talks - Soviet view: The USSR still favors a
heads-of-government meeting to discuss "main areas of
conflict," including disarmament, the Middle East, and the
Far East, This may be the
beginning of a Soviet effort to develop Far tpAtArn iFIRUPR S
a potential topic for summit consideration. I
Cornmu-
nist China has no intention of attacking Taiwan.
Middle Eastern tensions had eased since late July. In
an effort to bolster the Soviet position on the eve of the special
UN General Assembly session on the Middle East, Khrushchev
declared in his 10 August speech that the threat of war in the
Middle East "remains very acute." APage 1)
II. ASIA-AFRICA
Jordan: There continue to be reports that a revolt against
King Husayn may occur at any time. Husayn is evidently de-
termined to go down fighting. The King has launched a major
propaganda attack against Nasir. Rifai says that if the worst
comes, he plans to abandon West Jordan; to use the Jordan
River as a 'lire break" to protect Amman, the symbol of the
Hashemite kingdom; to block any eastward retreat by the Pales-
tinian refugees, and "let Ben- Gurion deal with them." Rifars
Insistence that he is serious about this plan is a symptom of the
government's apparent desperation in a situation in which Rifai
admits almost every course of action has been blocked.
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Murphy-Nasir talk: The UAR president repeated his
standard-objections to American policy and offered no new
suggestions for easing tensions in the area. He said he
"failed to see" how King Husayn, a "nice young man," could
survive politically. Nasir strongly implied that Iraq would
be admitted to the UAR, although as usual he insisted that he
already has enough troubles. He said he had told the Iraqis
not to seek advice from the USSR, since his experience had
been that "if one asked them for advice several times they
would begin giving orders." Nasir asserted he is willing to
cooperate to maintain Lebanon as an independent state. He
again contended that any subversive activity by Egyptian rep-
resentatives in the Arab world has been due to excessive zeal
by individuals.
Following the talk, Nasir's top aide, Ali Sabri, told the Bur-
mese representative in Cairnt_hnfxrP�rTnairiuiicomr-iue-
of American "sinceritvi"
'Lebanon: The assassination of three pto-Chamoun part-
isan leaders on 10 August will intensify fear among Chamounis
supporters that they will be the targets of "massacres" from
which General Shihab will be unwilling or unable to protect them.
Militant Christian groups in particular will probably resist at-
tempts to disarm them for fear that political murders will turn
into religious feuding. Further assassination attempts against
Chamoun supporters. nossiblv including members of the present,,
cabinet, are likely.
Ethiopia-Sudan: Ethiopian officials remain gravely con-
cerned over the UAR threat to the Sudan. A confidential envoy
from Sudanese Premier Khalil is now in Addis Ababa to discuss
cooperation between the two countries.
11 Aug 58
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Cambodia: Persistent
rumors of plotting to overthrow
heightened opposition by various po-
premier. Such activity has probably been
recent recognition of Communist China.
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Premier Sihanouk reflect
litical elements to the
stimulated by Sihanouk's
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I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC
Soviet View on Summit Talks
The USSR continues to favor a heads-of-government meet-
ing in which to discuss thp main issues of East-West tension,
including disarmament, the Near and Middle East, and the Far
East, according to the counselor of the Soviet Embassy in Paris,
Yerofeyev, who talked with American officials on 7 August. He
claimed that the "only thing" that caused a five-power summit
meeting "within the framework of the UN Security Council" to
fall through was De Gaulle's refusal to attend.
Inasmuch as the "Far East" has not been submitted as a
summit topic by the Soviet Union in the exchanges on the sub-
ject which began last December, the reference may foreshadow
a Soviet intention in this regard in future calls by Moscow for a
heads-of-government meeting.
Moscow is convinced, Yerofeyev said, that there is little
chance of Taiwan's continuing to exist as a separate entity after
Chiang Kai-shek's death, and that the Chinese Communists do not
intend to attack Taiwan. He gave no assurances, however, about
Chinese Communist intentions toward the offshore islands. While
he admitted that tensions in the Middle East have relaxed, he urged
that the US and the USSR reach agreement on Middle East issues
warning that a "new flare-up"--such as the downfall of Jordan's
King Husayn--"might occur at any time."
Yerofeyev also said the USSR does not intend to give nuclear
weapons to Communist China, that the Chinese will develop their
own weapons in the "foreseeable future." Soviet party presidium
member Suslov recently expressed a similar view in Moscow
when he told a visiting Austrian official that Chinese scientists
were being trained in the Soviet Union and that Communist China
would have the atomic bomb in "four or five years." Yerofeyev
made no statement regarding possible Soviet delivery of missile
weapons to China.
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IL ASIA-AFRICA
Jordanian Situation
Jordanian Prime Minister Rifai, acknowledging that al-
most every course of action for King Husayn's government has
been blocked except surrender to pro-Nasir elements, said on
9 August that he has concluded that in case of a revolt the gov-
ernment should try above all to save the capital city of Amman
as a symbol of the Hashemite kingdom. This reasoning, he
said, had prompted the recent transfer of army units to Amman
at the cost of leaving the rest of the country less protected. If
"the worst" comes the prime minister said he plans to abandon
West Jordan with its overwhelming population of refugees, using
the Jordan River to seal off the rest of the country from a pos-
sible movement of the refugees eastward, and "let Ben-Gurion
deal with them."
The Israeli Government has said on several occasions that
it would have to take military action if a pro-Nasir coup or re-
volt occurred in Jordan, and that it is preparing its public for
this eventuality. On 8 August, Tel Aviv's armed forces radio
service, in what appears to have been an orientation program
for military personnel, broadcast the statement that the danger
to Israel has increased immensely in view of the possibility that
Nasir's control would soon encompass Jordan, and warned that
"all our political and military efforts must be devoted to avert
this danger."
Nasir told Deputy Under Secretary Murphy that he is fully
aware of the Israeli attitude on Jord he had no answer
to the problernffindiiiga solution which would relax tensions.
He also a-sr-r-tl that if Israel attacked Jordan the UAR "of course"
would counterattack.
Three independent reports have asserted that a coup or re-
volt in Jordan is scheduled for this week.�King fiusastn himself
apparently feels the climax of his "fight" is probably near, and
he se-ems determined to resist. However, he is more resigned
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No,
than optimistic over the tco e. A previously reported
Syrian concentration-of-armor near the Jordan border has
been discowited: but the border areas remain extremely
tense,-
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Ethiopia Promises Assistance to Sudanese Premier Khalil
Ethiopian officials, in discussion with American repre-
sentatives, have described the situation in the Sudan as grave
and called for American understanding and especially finan-
cial aid for an Ethiopian program to combat Egyptian subver-
sive efforts. Acting Ethiopian Prime Minister Aklilou reported
that an envoy from Sudanese Premier Khalil was in Addis Ababa
to discuss means of cooperation between Ethiopia and the Sudan
to arrest the growth of UAR influence in Khartoum.
Aklilou stated that Khalil, who has a secret defense treaty
with Emperor Haile Selassie, has asked for Ethiopian secret
police agents and 3,000 to 5,000 Ethiopian troops if necessary
and has received the Emperor's agreement. A similar promise
of troops by the Emperor at the time of the Wadi Haifa border cri-
sis in February reportedly served to strengthen Khalil's morale
despite the serious logistics problem of transporting the Ethi-
opian troops. Aklilou also suggested that the 40,000 Ethiopian
residents of the Sudan could be used to combat Egyptian pene-
tration.
The Ethiopian official's plea for American financial as-
sistance stressed the amount spent by Cairo to subvert the
Sudanese Government and armed forces, and he emphasized
Ethiopia's inability either to match such subsidizing or to coun-
ter Egypt's propaganda campaign among the large Moslem
minority of Ethiopia.
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Cambodian Premier May Be Target of Coup Plotters
Opposition elements in Cambodia are said to be actively
considering the overthrow of Premier Sihanouk. Dissatisfac-
tion in influential Cambodian circles over Sihanouk's one-man
rule has been growing, and various reports suggest that his
recognition of Communist China has precipitated the coup plan-
ning.
The ranks of the opposition are not clearly defined, and
there is some question as to the coordination of their efforts.
General Dap Chuon, anti-Communist governor of Siem Reap
Province northwest of Phnom Penh, recently sent word to the
American ambassador of his "deep distress" over the Peiping
recognition, stating that although he was loyal to the monarchy
and to Sihanouk, he loved his country more than either. He is
now reported willing to participate in a coup. Possibly in this
connection, General Lon Nol, army chief of staff, is said to be
trying to establish closer relations with Dap Chuon. Other ele-
ments appear to be involved in planning of coups for reasons of
political persuasion or personal gain.
A move by rightists against Sihanouk would have at least
the tacit approval of the South Vietnamese and Thai governments.
Several reports allege that coup plotters have already appealed
to them for assistance. South Vietnamese President Diem has
frankly s41-pr1 that lithinkince, ramhorlians will Pven hi a 1 lv oust
Sihanouk.
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