CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/02/03

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03180488
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: February 3, 1957

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CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
3 February 1957
Copy No.
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.-
f I DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTO: HEI 0-
DATE
REVIEWER:
t.)
L I
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
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CONTENTS
1. NEW DIFFICULTIES MAY RESULT FROM SUEZ OPEN-
ING PRIOR TO SETTLE MEW[
(page 3).
2. NEW TENSION IN SYRIAN-ISRAELI DEMILITARIZED ZONE
(page 4).
II' 3. BRITISH REINFORCEMENTS REQUESTED IN ADEN-YEMEN
BORDER TROUBLE
(page 5).
ik 4. BALKAN SATELLITES REPORTEDLY TO SEND UNEMPLOYED
TO USSR AND OTHER SATELLITES (page 6).
5. AUSTRIA EXPELS SECRETARIAT OF THE WORLD PEACE
COUNCIL (page 8).
6. AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT REPORTS ON COMMUNIST
CHINA (page 9),
7. PATHET LAO WORRIED OVER GROWING OPPOSITION TO
PROPOSED SETTLEMENT (page 10).
8. BURMESE COMMUNIST ATT1kCK MAY BE EFFORT TO FORCE
PEACE TALKS (page 11).
3 Feb 57
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1. NEW DIFFICULTIES MAY RESULT FROM SUEZ OPEN-
ING PRIOR TO SETTLEMENT
Comment on:
Soviet authorities intend to
send Soviet merchant vessels through
the Suez Canal in the near future. On
28 January, a Soviet station in Odessa requested Alexandria,
Egypt to confirm the possibility of transit of the Suez Canal
by two Soviet ships during the first half of February. The
estimated time of arrival at Suez of two Soviet merchant
ships, the Ismail and Krasnodar, en route from Calcutta
to Odessa, is about 10 February. On 1 February, the
Soviet passenger ship Gruziya, en route from the Far East,
was instructed by the steamship company in Odessa to pro-
ceed west via Suez.
the
canal will be open to limited traffic prior to a political set-
tlement of its status and the conditions for transit. While
General Wheeler officially estimates that some navigation
through the canal will be possible by early March, UN esti-
mates have been deliberately conservative and clearance of
a limited channel appears physically possible by mid-Feb-
ruary. Should Egypt then deny passage to vessels of Britain,
France, and other nations refusing to pay tolls to Egypt, this
could occasion stronger moves to overthrow the Nasr regime.
The USSR probably intends to have its
vessels be the first to transit the canal. Payment of tolls to
the Egyptian Canal Authority by the USSR would be an effec-
tive gesture of support for Egypt in its dispute with Britain
and France over operation of the canal.
3 Feb 57
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2. NEW TENSION IN SYRIAN-ISRAELI DEMILITARIZED ZONE
Comment on:
Israel is "slowly, deliberately and thor-
oughly" taking over the entire demilitar-
ized area between Syria and Israel, and
if the UN General Assembly should call
for stationing of UNEF forces in these
zones, there could be trouble, in the opin-
ion of the chief of the Israeli-Syrian Mixed
Armistice Commission on 29 January.
On the same day, the Syrian Front Com-
mand reported that Israeli forces had occupied new positions
in one of the demilitarized zones, according to an Egyptian
message from Damascus to Cairo. The Syrians appear ap-
prehensive over the situation in the demilitarized areas, part
of which was quietly occupied by Israeli forces during hostil-
ities in Sinai. On 1 February, a UN investigator reported
considerable Syrian effort to keep him away from the Syrian
front, where he observed heavier troop concentrations than
those noted on previous visits. He believed that the Syrians
feared an attack, since they were deployed defensively.
The Syrians also probably fear that Israel
may shortly begin work in the demilitarized zone above Lake
Tiberias to divert waters of the Jordan River for long-deferred
irrigation and power projects. Syria gave notice last summer
that it would open fire on the Israelis if such operations were
undertaken in the demilitarized zone.
3 Feb 57
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3. BRITISH REINFORCEMENTS REQUESTED IN ADEN-
YEMEN BORDER TROUBLE
The War Office has become alarmed
over the deteriorating situation in Aden,
A battalion
of the Durham Light Infantry, one of the
two British infantry battalions stationed in Aden since hos-
tilities in Egypt, has virtually completed its scheduled re-
deployment to the United Kingdom--leaving only a battalion
of the Cameron Highlanders in Aden. The commander of
British land forces in the Mediterranean area, however,
has now asked for return of the Durhams or assignment of
another infantry battalion to Aden.
Comment With the departure of the Durhams,
British forces in Aden and Aden Pro-
tectorate number about 1200. At least two companies of
the Cameron Highlanders are believed already deployed at
critical points on the disputed Yemen-Aden frontier. About
2,400 British-led indigenous troops are also available in the
Protectorates, whose frontier alone, however, extends al-
most 800 miles.
Repeated armed Yemeni incursions into
the Aden Protectorate, and continuing Soviet bloc and Egyp-
tian efforts to expedite movement of arms and advisers to
Yemen have undoubtedly caused the British to reassess their
strength in Aden.
Yemen is now attempting to undermine
the authority of Protectorate rulers who maintain connec-
tions with Britain. In three areas of the Western Protec-
torate, movements have been reported among the tribes-
men to elect new leaders in place of those having treaty re-
lations with Britain.
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4. BALKAN SATELLITES REPORTEDLY TO SEND UN-
EMPLOYED TO USSR AND OTHER SATELLITES
Runianian workers have been informed
by the regime that unemployed persons
under the age of 35 could go to develop
the new lands area of the USSR, while
those between 35 and 60 are needed to re-
construct Hungary, according to Ameri-
can legation sources in Bucharest. The
workers, reported to be increasingly
concerned over impending layoffs in the construction indus-
try, have responded unfavorably to government reassurances
of work elsewhere in the Soviet bloc.
Last month, a Polish newspaper reported
aSoviet-Bulgarian agreement to export 15,000 "willing" un-
employed Bulgarians to the Soviet new lands area on a "tem-
porary" basis. Czechoslovakia has reportedly agreed to
accept a similar number, but only if Bulgaria does not in-
terfere with those who wish to seek permanent residence.
Comment Although the USSR, with its current labor
shortage, could use workers from Rumania
and Bulgaria, it is less likely that they could be profitably used
in Hungary or Czechoslovakia. Moreover, Rumanian workers
compulsorily exported to Hungary would probably represent a
more disruptive than constructive element, since they might be
viewed as "strikebreakers:'
A recently announced Rumanian consolida-
tion of ministries, designed to implement the publicized gov-
ernment economy program, has led to the dismissal of an un-
known, but presumably large, number of workers, while another
reorganization scheduled for later this month is expected to lead
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4..�(../11.1'11../E41. tiiva
to the dismissal of 40,000 government officials and workers.
Those dismissed are reportedly to be transferred to jobs in
production, but increasing reports of abandoned building proj-
ects belie the existence of new productive jobs.
The serious situation in Bulgaria, whose
unemployed are rumored to number up to 9 percent of the
working force, arises from economic dislocations as well as
from the release of unneeded bureaucrats.
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5. AUSTRIA EXPELS SECRETARIAT OF THE WORLD
PEACE COUNCIL
Comment on.
The 6xpulsion of tlib World Peace Coun-
cil (WPC) secretariat from Vienna on
2 February was ordered in part to pre-
vent its use in the rumored establish-
ment of a new international Communist
intelligence network,
The WPC headquarters staff, 38 non-
Austrians as of last fall, has been under strict police sur-
veillance for several years. Formerly operating under the
protection of the Soviet occupation forces, the WPC was
granted legal status, despite Western protests, in July 1955
with a warning not to violate its statutes. Evidently fear-
ing visa difficulties, WPC shifted its 1956 congress from
Vienna to Stockholm.
This action comes exactly a year after
the expulsion from Austria of the WFTU. Although the
Soviet press strongly condemned that move, there were ap-
parently no official protests that Austrian neutrality was
violated, and Vienna evidently expects no serious reprisals
in this case. Action against other remaining fronts, such
as the Federation of Resistance Fighters, may follow.
3 Feb 57
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AAJAL.LL 'I A All-LI
6 AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT REPORTS ON
COMMUNIST CHINA
Comment on:
Look correspondent Edmund Stevens
told the US embassy in Moscow that the
conditions he saw in China were in most
respects superior to those in the Soviet
mon. Although Stevens, who recently visited Communist
China in violation of the US travel ban, could not compare
present with past conditions, Ambassador Bohlen feels that
the correspondent's long residence in the Soviet Union makes
him particularly well qualified to compare current Chinese
and Soviet conditions.
Apart from the fact that Stevens may have
received a conducted tour, his impressions were colored by
the fact that his travel was limited to the Peiping and Shang-
hai metropolitan areas. He had no opportunity to study the
peasants, who comprise the bulk of China's population and
whose standard of living is much poorer than that of the urban
population.
Stevens was favorably impressed by the
relative availability of consumer goods and by the absence
of the atmosphere of fear and restraint so pervading in the
USSR. It was Stevens' opinion that the Peiping regime enjoys
a considerably larger degree of mass support than does the
Soviet Union. He attributes Peiping's success in large part
to its skillful utilization of the trained personnel, intelligentsia,
and even businessmen, of the pre-Communist era.
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7. PATHET LAO WORRIED OVER GROWING OPPOSITION
TO PROPOSED SETTLEMENT
Comment on:
The Pathet Lao,
revealed apprehension over
growing opposition in Vientiane to the
agreement recently concluded between
Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma and Pathet chief Souphan-
nouvong, and feels that it must consolidate additional support
before risking a vote in the national assembly on the agree-
ment. Souphannouvong, therefore, has "not yet fixed a date"
for his return to Vientiane, evidence
that Souvanna Phouma has not been won over, cabinet de-
mands for additional safeguards in return for "a few unim-
portant seats in the government," and the opposition tactics
of Deputy Premier Katay, "who has a positive hold on the
members of his party:'
Should Souphannouvong fail to return
from Pathet headquarters by 15 February, when the na-
tional assembly reconvenes, or, if upon returning he re-
jects the cabinet's demands for additional safeguards, Sou-
vanna Phouma may be forced to resign.
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8. BURMESE COMMUNIST ATTACK MAY BE EFFORT TO
FORCE PEACE TALKS
Comment on:
The large-scale raid by Burmese Com-
munist insurgent forces on Pegu on
29 January, variously reported as com-
prising 500 to 1,000 men, is regarded
by the American embassy in Rangoon as
e government to hold peace negotiations.
The leader of the Burmese Communist
Party, Thakin Than Tim, recently sent a letter to former
prime minister U Nu requesting peace talks with either the
government or the governing party, the Anti-Fascist Peo-
ple's Freedom League (AFPFL). The letter reportedly was
considered by the AFPFL executive committee and was re-
jected.
The Burmese Communist Party, badly
disorganized and with no prospect of military victory, has
persistently sought negotiations with the government during
the past year.
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