CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/02/10

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Keywords: 2018 Sanitization
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03161993
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: February 10, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/04
INTELLIGENCE
LL TI
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
I . DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS
NEXT REVIEW DATE-
AUTH: HR 70
1619.,j7/53fli
1957
/
07/
10 February
Copy No. 31
DATE
REVIEWER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SECRET .7
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CONTENTS
1. AT NASR'S "REQUEST" SYRIA REFUSES PERMISSION FOR
PIPELINE REPAIRS (page 3).
2. UN SECRETARY GENERAL COMPLAINS TO NASR OF DELAYS
IN SUEZ CLEARANCE ',page 4),
3. SYRIAN REPORTS OF ISRAELI MILITARY ACTIVITIES PROB-
ABLY OVERDRAWN (page 5).
4. BRITAIN DELAYING NEGOTIATIONS ON JORDAN TREATY
TERMINATION (page. �
5. AFGHANISTAN MAY HALT AGITATION ON PUSHTOOMSTAN
ISSUE (page 7).
6. FRENCH COMMUNISTS CALL STRIKE RALLY
(page 8).
7. NAGY TRIAL MAY BE IN PROSPECT IN HUNGARY
(page 9).
HATTA CH
INDONESI
10 Feb 57
S SUKARNO TO TAKE CONTROL IN
(page 10),
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 2
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1. AT NASR'S "REQUEST" SY REFUSES PERMISSION
FOR PIPELINE REPAIRS
Syrian prime minister Asali told Ambas-
sador Moose on 7 February that Syria's
refusal to permit the Iraq Petroleum
Company to repair its oil pipelines across
Syria resulted from a request by Nasr to
take no action because Egypt was considering suspension of
clearance operations of the Suez Canal.
IPC officials informed Moose on 6 Feb-
ruary that Asali "regretfully" refused permission to begin
repairs until the Israelis withdraw from Sinai and Gaza and
until UN forces leave Sinai.
Comment Reports from Damascus have indicated
an increasing desire among Syrian offi-
cials to get oil flowing again across Syria, particularly fol-
lowing recent IPC payments of $14,420,000 in oil transit
royalties to Syria. Egyptian influence in Syria is such, how-
ever, that the decisions will continue to be made in Cairo.
Asali's statement is the first suggestion
that the departure of UN forces might be made a condition to
the resumption of the flow of oil across Syria.
10 Feb 57
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2, UN SECRETARY GENERAL COMPLAINS TO NASR OF
DELAYS IN SUEZ CLEARANCE
UN secretary general Hammarskj old
complained to Nasr on 30 January,
that reports from UN clearance chief
General Wheeler showed a "continuing unsatisfactory posi-
tion" and that Egyptian authorities were delaying clearance
operations "to a point which will not only affect the deadline
for completion of stage one (limited transit) but also preju-
dice the target date for stage two" (unlimited transit). Ham-
marskj old told Nasr that Wheeler reported that the delays
were "political:'
Comment Nasr reportedly ordered a slowdown
of clearance operations on 22 January
and has also threatened to halt canal clearance operations if
Israel continues to refuse to 'withdraw its forces from Gaza
and the Gulf of Aqaba.
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1-4 41 'ILL I I
3. SYRIAN REPORTS OF ISRAELI MILITARY ACTIVITIES
PROBABLY OVERDRAWN
Syrian military intelligence has received
reports from "a number of sources" that
Israel is concentrating its forces in the
northern and central areas of Israel,
Comment Israel is not known to be mobilizing its
forces and is unlikely deliberately to pro-
voke a major military action at this time. In view of the crit-
ical political situation in Jordan, Israel is probably maintain-
ing a state of alert. Israel may also be anticipating a resump-
tion of Egyptian-sponsored fedayeen activity as a result of its
refusal to withdraw from Gaza and the Gull of Aqaba.
On the Syrian border, Israel has been com-
pleting its takeover of the demilitarized zone between the two
countries, an action which it quietly began during the hostili-
ties in Sinai.
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4, BRITAIN DELAYING NEGOTIATIONS ON JORDAN
TREATY TERMINATION
Comment on:
The British are evidently trying to de-
lay the negotiations on termination of
the Anglo-Jordanian treaty on the ground
that Jordan has appropriated a large
quantity of British military stores.,
can embassy in London, the 'oreign Office is not inclined to
agree to Jordan's proposal for a 1 March joint statement an-
nouncing termination of the treaty because British officers
in Jordan have now reported stores worth more than $8,000,000
missing from British facilities at Yerqua. Jordan's removal
of this materiel, including artillery, vehicles, automatic weap-
ons, small arms, and ammunition, was revealed
Britain's efforts to delay termination of
the treaty may spring from fear that termination would signal
the beginning of a series of developments leading to the col-
lapse of the regime in Jordan, with corresponding unsettling
effects on the Middle East situation generally.
10 Feb 57
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5, AFGHANISTAN MAY HALT AGITATION ON
PUSHTOONISTAN ISSUE
Afghan prime minister Daud told Pakistani
charge Khattak in Kabul on 5 February he
was now convinced that the Pushtu leader
Abdul Ghaffer Khan desires to remain a
Pakistani and that the Pushtu tribes wish to remain a part of
Pakistan. If Ghaffer Khan or his son were to accept an ap-
pointment from Pakistan, Daud said he would point out to those
who have supported him on Pushtoonistan that such a campaign
no longer had any meaning.
Ambassador Mills agrees with Khattak that
Daud now wants close and friendly relations with Pakistan as
a counterweight to the USSR, and is seeking a face-saving for-
mula that will enable him to drop the Pushtoonistan issue.
Comment
There have been several recent indications
that Kabul may be undertaking a shift in its
foreign policy as the result of its renewed apprehension of the
USSR following the Soviet intervention in Hungary. Afghan
leaders have expressed approval of the US government's pro-
posals for the Middle East
Afghanistan will support Pakistan in the UN on
the Kashmir question, despite the support it has received from
India on Pushtoonistan in the past.
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6. FRENCH COMMUNISTS CALL STRIKE RALLY
Comment on:
The Communist-dominated French General
Labor Confederation's call for a "show of
strength" labor rally on 11 February is
probably an attempt to exploit an economic
issue in order to recoup the prestige lost as a result of the
party's stand on Hungary and Suez. If Communist leaders
gauge their labor support as adequate, they may then take ad-
vantage of the current discontent over wage ceilings and high
prices to bring off a crippling national strike.
There have been sporadic strikes and slow-
downs over the wage question among civil servants, public
utility workers, and air line employees in the past few weeks.
While some of these strikes were a joint effort by Communist
and non-Communist unions, chances are slim that the Com-
munists will be able to snowball them into a mass effort. The
General Labor Confederation can be expected to step up its
own strike activity following the rally, however, and it may
rPCPi VP iRnlated cm-Tort from non-Communist labor unions.
10 Feb 57
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,f_fIN IT 111E21 I' 1 1AL.La
7. NAGY TRIAL MAY BE IN PROSPECT IN HUNGARY
The authoritative statement on 9 February
made by Karoly Kiss, a leading member
of the executive committee of the Hungarian
Socialist Workers (Communist) Party, that
"more and more ordinary people believe
that Imre Nagy ought to be tried by a court" strongly suggests
that such a trial is now being prepared by the Hungarian re-
gime. Such a trial would be intended as a warning to liberal
Communist elements throughout the Satellites.
Party leader Janos Kadar charged on 2
February that Nagy and three leading intellectuals who collab-
orated with him had "fomented an armed attack against the
Hungarian Peoples Republic" and "protected the cause of coun-
terrevolution!' Kadar's statement suggests that charges being
prepared against Nagy may also implicate Cardinal Mindszenty.
This in turn would probably involve the United States legation
in Budapest, where Mindszenty took refuge on 4 November.
Nagy is reportedly regarded as a national
hero by the great majority of the Hungarian people. Any move
to stage a public trial would confront the regime with a serious
problem of maintaining public order.
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Nwo
8� HATTA CHALLENGES SUKA:RNO TO TAKE CONTROL
IN INDONESIA
Comment on:
dential cabinet.
Former vice president Hatta stated in a
recent press interview that the only solu-
tion to Indonesia's deteriorating economic
and political situation is for President
Sukarno to take personal charge of the
country's affairs as the head of a presi-
He called on parliament to give Sukarno the
necessary power to form such a regime. Hatta, however,
went on to attack Indonesia's "bureaucratic-centralistic" form
of government, which he accused of neglecting the peoples'
interests, and stated that the situation could be rectified only
by granting immediately regional demands for autonomy.
In challenging Sukarno to "put up or shut
up" by assuming full executive responsibility for the govern-
ment, Hatta probably hopes Sukarno will demonstrate he is
either unwilling or unable to deal effectively with Indonesia's
problems. In this event, Hatta would be available for the pre-
miership and may well calculate that Sukarno will continue to
avoid entan1emnt n the day-to-day operations of the govern-
ment.
10 Feb 57
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