CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1956/08/11

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03193794
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: October 25, 2019
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2019
• Publication Date: August 11, 1956

AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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CONTENTS
1. INDIAN ROLE IN SUEZ DISPUTE
(page 3).
20 BRITISH LABORITES OPPOSE GOVERNMENT'S "SWORD
RATTLING" (page 4).
ITARY MOVEMENTS IN THE SUEZ CRISIS
(page 5).
4. SYRIAN AMBASSADOR URGES EGYPT TO COMPROMISE
ON SUEZ (Top Secret Eider) (page 6).
5. SAUDI ARABIAN AND IRAQI OFFICIALS OPPOSED TO
INTERRUPTION OF OIL SHIPMENTS TO WEST
(page 7).
6. ALGERIAN REBEL IF. ADE 14 nuT7NES PLANS OF RESIST-
ANCE MOVEMENT ) (page 8).
7. HUNGARIANS REPORTEDLY TO REHABILITATE DEPOSED
PR8MIER NAGY (page 9).
11 Aug 56
* * * *
THE ARAB-ISRAEL SITUATION
(page 10)
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 2
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1. INDIAN ROLE IN SUEZ DISPUTE
ndian officials in Cairo have told the
ritish that the best reply which can
e expected from Nasr to the invitation
o attend the London conference is an
ian willingness to attend a conference
jointly sponsored by Britain and Egypt with a new list of
invitees to be negotiated through diplomatic channels. Such
a conference would discuss "matters arising out of national-
ization of the canal," without any advance reference to "inter-
nationalization."
The Indian position is that internationali-
zation should not be imposed on Egypt and that if an interna-
tional authority is established for the canal, it should be com-
posed of small powers with Egypt as chairman.
Comment India has been in close touch with Cairo
on the Suez issue.
While India is expected to "speak for Egypt"
at the London conference, New Delhi has thus far carefully re-
frained from doing anything that might commit it irrevocably
to either side of the controversy.
The suggestions given to the British by the
Indian officials in Cairo may he New Delhi's first move to as-
sume the role of mediator,
11 Aug 56
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.4� CONFIDENTIAL
2, BRITISH LABORITES OPPOSE GOVERNMENT'S
"SWORD RATTLING"
A right-wing Laborite leader has in-
formed the American embassy in
London that he and a "vast majority"
of Labor Party members are strongly
opposed to the government's "sword rattling" on the Suez
issue. He insists that any forceful action to be taken against
Egypt should be "clearly in conformity with the UN charter:'
The embassy recalls that in this connection,
� Hugh Gaitskell in his speech on 2 August also stated that any
solution must be consistent with the UN charter.
Comment With the exception of the London Times
and the conservative weekly. Spectator,
the responsible British press has deplored the government's
position that force might be used if necessary.
A British poll taken between 4 and 6 August ,
shows that only 33 percent of those questioned would favor tak-
ing military action if Egypt refuses to accept the decision of the
16 August London conference.
11 Aug 56
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Noe
3. EGYPTIAN MILITARY MOVEMENTS IN THE SUEZ CRISIS
After several days of apparent inactivity,
Egypt has responded to the threat of Brit-
ish and French military intervention by
partially regrouping its forces to strengthen
the defense of the Suez Canal and the delta
areas, While Egypt's action appears to in-
dicate an intention to resist foreign military
intervention, it is also necessary to support
Cairo's assertions that it will not bow to
threats of force.
Although the major part of the Egyptian
forces continues to be deployed in the Sinai area, some troops
and a substantial quantity of armor are reported to have been
withdrawn from the peninsula and the Israeli front. An increas-
ing amount of antiaircraft and field artillery and armor has
been observed west of Cairo, in the Alexandria area, and in
the Western Desert. This redeployment reflects the Egyptian
belief that any attack outside the canal zone would be through
the Western Desert--either overland from Libya or over the
beaches west of Alexandria.
Egypt has instituted partial mobilization,
and the call-up of the National Guard, the "Palestine Libera-
tion Army," and youth battalions�comprising the newly pro-
claimed National Liberation Army--has been widely publicized.
e forces is slight.
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'44.0
4. SYRIAN AMBASSADOR URGES EGYPT TO COMPROMISE
ON SUEZ
Syrian ambassador Zeineddine in Wash-
ington told the Egyptian ambassador I7
that a compromise solution on
the Suez Canal dispute "would be in the
best interests of Egypt;
The Syrian diplomat warned that Egypt should ex-
ert every effort to avert "the catastrophe of a lopsided war."
Zeineddine advised a compromise provid-
ing for (1) Egyptian management and sovereignty over the
canal and (2) establishment of an international commission
located outside Egypt which would investigate the freedom
and safety of navigation of the canal "from time to time." The
commission's reports would be reviewed by a committee of
those nations invited to the London conference.
Comment reflect a real
tear of Western military intervention, as
well as fear that Soviet support for Egypt would not be suffi-
cient to counter Western action.
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5, SAUDI ARABIAN AND IRAQI OFFICIALS OPPOSED TO
INTERRUPTION OF OIL SHIPMENTS TO WEST
Comment on:
by high Saudi Arabian
and Iraqi government officials suggest
that their governments would oppose ef-
forts to interrupt the movement of revenue-
producing oil to the West.
Ambassador Wadsworth says Saudi deputy
foreign minister Yusuf Yasin on 8 August
conveyed his government's disapproval of
any attempt to halt the flow of oil. �Yasin
recalled that at the time of the Palestine
�war, Saudi Arabia had been urged to stop
shipment of oil, but had not done so.
The Saudi government is reported to have
tightened security measures at oil installations and threatened
to imprison oil workers in the event of work stoppages.
11 Aug 56
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6. ALGERIAN REBEL LEADER OUTLINES PLANS OF
11:1VOTOT A 11,TOV, ILATITTV1UTV
Ben Bella reiterated his determination
to accept nothing short of complete independence for Algeria
and implied that it would have to be granted to the government-
in-exile which the Algerians plan to establish in the near fu-
ture. Several states have already promised recognition, ac-
cording to the Algerian leader.
Ben Bella revealed that nationalist lead-
ers had recently held secret talks with a representative of
the French government. The negotiations were indecisive,
hivrnd were broken off when the Suez crisis arose.
Comment Ben Bella's appraisal of the present
strength of the Algerian resistance ap-
pears to be somewhat exaggerated, particularly with respect
to the quantity of arms and ammunition available to the rebels.
if a solution
is not found for the Algerian problem by the end of August, the
Algerians plan to establish a government-in-exile either at
Damascus, Amman or. Cairo. In the present inflamed state of
opinion in the Arab world, it is possible that at least some of
these states may have promised to recognize such a regime.
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7. HUNGARIANS REPORTEDLY TO REHABILITATE
DEPOSED PREMIER AGY
The Hungarian party central committee_
has decided to rehabilitate former premier'
Imre Nagy,
This action will reportedly take place following Nagy's
admission that he committed certain errors during his tenure in
office.
� Comment Previously Nagy has refused to engage in
self-criticism, and the party as recently as
mid-July reiterated that he was guilty of rightist deviation.
However, the increase in power of the moderate elements among
Hungarian Communists and the removal of Nagy's primary oppo-
nent, former party first secretary Rakosi, may have opened the
way for Nagy to regain political influence by admitting some
past errors and promising to work for party unity.
Nagy is a, Moscow-trained Communist who
has been active in the movemen since World War I, During his
premiership from July 1953 to April 1955, he inaugurated policies
which are similar to many of those demanded by the moderate
faction today. His return to public life would be viewed by the
moderates as favorable to their efforts to speed liberalization
and should also be welcomed by the public, which looks back on
the Nagy era as the best of all past Communist regimes.
r
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