CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/06/14

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03150423
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: June 14, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 CO3150423
'341t.E11 ',Z./7W/ 1 #1(4
14 June 1957
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
Copy No.
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
DEC 51-L
CLASS. CHANGED TO. TS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTH: 2
DATE:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SE�12-EP
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LJ1
CONTENTS
1, SYRIAN PRESIDENT WEIGHS RESIGNATION
(page 3).
1$) 0 2. SAUD SEEKS BAN ON ISRAELI SHIPPING IN GULF OF
AQABA (page 4).
iJ
3. SUDANESE ACT TO BLOCK EGYPTIAN PLOTTING (Top
(page 5)n
4. six SOVIET WARSHIPS ENTER MEDITERRANEAN
(page 6).
v._ 5. KHRUSHCHEV CRITICIZES DISARMAMENT INSPECTION
ZONE FOR ARCTIC (page 7).
6. SOVIET AMBASSADOR IN PRAGUE SHOCKED BY ANTI-
SOVIET FEELING page 9).
7. PEIPING'S LETTER-WRIT1NG CAMPAIGN AIMED AT
TAIWAN DEFECTIONS (page 10)
FA 0, 8. GREEK-CYPRIOT LEADER EXPECTS NO VIOLENCE ON
CYPRUS PRIOR TO OPENING OF UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ge 11).
ANNEX--Conclusions of the Watch Report of the Intelligence
Advisory Committee
(page 12).
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1. SYRIAN PRESIDENT WEIGHS RESIGNATION
Comment President Quwatli has previously threat-
ened to resign. Since his position has be-
come increasingly untenable, he may now actually do so un-
less he receives strong backing from either Nasr or King Saud.
It is likely that Nasr will do little more than urge Quwatli to
make accommodations with the left.
There are indications meanwhile that Quwatli
has been in contact with Saud and that the king will support him
and antileftist forces in Syria. Such support would forestall
Quwatli's resignation, as well as induce Syrian moderates to
force a showdown with the leftists. Rumors of a showdown are
again appearing.
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2. SAUD SEEKS BAN ON ISRAELI SHIPPING IN
GULF OF AQABA
Comment on:
In audience with Ambassador Wadsworth
before departing for Jordan, King Saud
voiced strong opposition to the presence
of Israeli shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Saud asserted that United States support
of Israeli use of the Gulf of Aqaba weak-
ened his position and defeated his effort
to try to line up the Arabs behind the
es, e urged that the United States assist in forc-
ing Israel to return to the status quo ante, when there was
no passage through the gulf except with Egypt's permission,
and when Israel had no warships there.
Saud indicated that he would call a confer-
ence of Moslem states to consider the problem posed by the
presence of Israeli vessels in the gulf, astride a historical
route of pilgrims to Mecca. It would be necessary to convene
such a conference soon since the arma,a1 iilgrimage season be-
gins at the end of June. Saud also intimated that he would have
to close Saudi Arabia to pilgrims because he could not take re-
sponsibility for their safety. He claimed that they would be in
jeopardy, whether traveling via the Gulf of Aqaba or by other
routes, until the gulf question was settled.
To draw world attention to this issue, Saud
and King Hussain issued on 12 June a warning against use of
the gulf route by pilgrims "because of the instability of the
area." This warning has had its principal effect in Syria, where
several thousand pilgrims bound for Aqaba have been forced to
halt their departure. The left-wing Syrian press has attacked
Saud and Hussain for causing economic loss to the pilgrims
and denounced the travel ban as a hostile act.
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3. SUDANESE ACT TO BLOCK EGYPTIAN PLOTTING
An Egyptian-backed attempt at a
"military coup" in the Sudan has been
uncovered by the Sudanese government,
The government is reportedly in control of the situation
and has made one arrest with a number of others expected to
follow.
� Comment Subversive activity aimed at extending
Egyptian influence in the Sudan has been
a consistent policy of the Naar regime, and the weakness of
the coalition government in Khartoum may have led some ele-
ments to attempt to recruit for a subversive effort. Major
Salim, persona non grata in the Sudan because of his past in-
volvement in affairs of a like nature, was recently reported to
have been refused permission for an entry visa. Kibaida has
also been reported involved in such conspiracies in the past.
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t_AfINF 11.1.1Ca N
4. SIX SOVIET WARSHIPS ENTER MEDITERRANEAN
American naval sources report that the
USSR has notified the Turkish govern-
ment that six Soviet warships will leave
the Black Sea via the Turkish Straits.
One Sverdlov-class cruiser and two des-
troyer escorts will go through the straits on 20 June, and
three destroyers will follow on 21 June.
The stated purpose of the movement is
"navigational training:' No date of return to the Black Sea
was specified.
Comment Scheduling the movement on two succes-
sive days complies with the Montreux
Convention, which provides that a capital ship may be ac-
companied by no more than two destroyers. Three Soviet
submarines and one minesweeper are already en route to
the eastern Mediterranean, having passed through the Straits
of Gibraltar on 9 June.
These naval units may rendezvous to con-
duct maneuvers in the Mediterranean or possibly make good-
will visits.
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-.mow
5.. KHRUSHCHEV CRITICIZES DISARMAMENT INSPECTION
ZONE FOR ARCTIC
Comment on:
Khrushchev described aerial inspection
in the Arctic regions as "ridiculous" in
his Helsinki press conference on 13 June.
One of the consistent objectives of Soviet
disarmament policy over the past two years has been to dem-
onstrate that the West has failed to respond to Soviet conces-
sions. Khrushchev's public attack on the US position on aerial
inspection is the first indication that the Soviet leaders con-
sider that in view of the current status of the London talks,
the time has come to abandon previous restraint and publicize
for propaganda purposes the conflicting East-West positions
on the critical issues of nuclear tests and a European inspec-
tion zone.
His statements appear to support other re-
cent indications that the USSR will reject any Western proposals
which do not provide for a European inspection zone. In his
television interview on 2 June, Khrushchev stated that the USSR
would agree to aerial inspection only "on definite reciprocal
terms" such as those outlined in the Soviet proposals of 30 April.
These proposals called for aerial inspection zones in Europe
and in "approximately equal" areas of the United States and the
USSR.
The Soviet leaders appear to believe that
Western European, particularly West German, opposition to a
European inspection zone will enable them to renew earlier
charges that the Western powers, especially the United States,
have again abandoned their own proposals after the USSR has ac-
cepted them. This line of attack was foreshadowed in Soviet del-
egate Zorin's memorandum of 7 June to the United States delegate
which noted the "negative attitude" of the United States toward
Moscow's aerial inspection proposals and stated that "a solution
should be sought, not in rejecting or narrowing aerial control,
but rather in its expansion."
On the question of stopping nuclear tests,
Khrushchev said that the Soviet government would agree to the
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establishment of inspection posts in the USSR, the United
States, Britain, and "other countries" if this would facil-
itate a test ban. This is the first public statement of the
concession in Zorints 7 June memorandum which represents
the abandonment of Moscow's previous position, that no in-
spection is necessary to enforce a cessation of nuclear tests.
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� �..1 A A I r")..L1 4.1 � A-A NJ A
6. SOVIET AMBASSADOR IN PRAGUE SHOCKED BY
ANTI-SOVIET FEELING
According to French embassy sources,
Soviet ambassador Grishin in Prague,
shocked by anti-Soviet feeling he has en-
countered in Czechoslovakia, has urged
the leaders of the Czech regime to de-
emphasize adulation of the Soviet Union. He has recommended
the removal of such symbols as Soviet flags and a reduction in
the frequency with which the Soviet national anthem is played
at public gatherings.
Grishin reportedly experienced a rude awak-
ening on 1 June at the finals of the European boxing champion-
ships when Soviet victories were greeted with scornful whistles.
Representatives from all other countries, including the German
Federal Republic, were clearly favored over their Soviet oppo-
nents. Anti-Soviet sentiment has also been demonstrated recent-
ly in the virtually complete boycott of the Soviet theater group
in Prague.
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7. PEIPING'S LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN AIMED
AT TAIWAN DEFECTIONS
Peiping is attempting to induce defec-
tions from Taiwan through a letter
writing campaign.
Most of these letters
dre froth relatives on the mainland and are of a personal na-
ture. In at least two cases, university graduates were urged
to return home where their "special skills" are needed.
The letters are usually mailed from the
mainland to Hong Kong and then forwarded to Taiwan.
Comment A year ago it was reported that letters
to individuals on Taiwan from friends
and relatives on the mainland were arriving at a rate of 500
per month. In February 1957, members of the Chinese Com-
munist Youth League were exhorted to step up a campaign to
send letters to officials on Taiwan and induce "discussion and
acceptance of peaceful liberation."
Peiping uses a similar personal approach
in radio broadcasts addressed to individual Nationalist officials.
Few defections have resulted from such approaches, but the
Nationalists have admitted that mainland-born Chinese on Tai-
wan are potentially vulnerable to these patriotic appeals.
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8. GREEK-CYPRIOT LEADER EXPECTS NO VIOLENCE ON
CYPRUS PRIOR TO OPENING OF UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Mayor Dervis of Nicosia, the principal
lay leader of the movement for the union
of Cyprus with Greece, told the American
consul on 11 June that he did not believe the
underground EOKA would resume violence
on the island prior to the convening of the
UN General Assembly next September. Der-,
vis added, however, that he is pessimistic
concerning the continuance of peace on Cyprus if the assembly
takes no action on the issue or if the British use the "same de-
laying tactics they have used since the last UN resolution." The
consul remarks that Dervis2 statements confirm the belief re�
cently expressed by a British official on Cyprus that the Greek
Cypriots are now "hopelessly estranged" from Britain.
Greek prime minister Karamanlis told Am-
bassador Allen on 12 June that he "had no choice" but to bring
the Cyprus issue again to the General Assembly.
Comment
EOKA
plans soon to resume an anti-Britisn campaign oi violence.
However, both Athens and the Greek-Cypriot leadership appear
to believe that such a course would damage their cause at the
UN; they apparently also believe that the lack of progress toward
a Cyprus solution since the UN resolution of last February en-
hances the prospects of a more favorable UN decision this fall.
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tyi incarl.r.
ANNEX
Watch Report 358, 12 June 1957
of the
Intelligence Advisory Committee
Conclusions on Indications of Hostilities
On the basis of findings by its Watch Committee, the
Intelligence Advisory Committee concludes that:
A. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostili-
ties against the continental US or its possessions in the
immediate future.
B. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostili-
ties against US forces abroad, US allies or areas periph-
eral to the Orbit in the immediate future.
C. Early deliberate initiation of hostilities by Israel or the
Arab states is not probable. Although tensions continue
between the Arab states and Israel and among certain
Arab states themselves, these are not likely to lead to
serious conflict in the immediate future,
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