FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE NEWSLETTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05-01430R000100040001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 1, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/13: CIA-RDP05-01430R000100040001-5
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1711 1fl
MON NM
FBIS
Foreign Broadcast
Information Service
NEWSLETTER
41.
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NOTICE
Fiad Buiczaws ane teminded that cop-Leis o4 th,bs
Neuztetten howed be deist)Loyed a4teit. teacti,ng
by U.S. Sta,64 emptoyea Th ,i2 Naote,tteit. Ls
not to be netained in 4iad buneauz.
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NEWSLFTTER 1 July 1985
TWA HIJACKING
From the beginning of the TWA hijacking crisis on 14 June, the
Middle East bureaus were alert for reportage and comment from area
public media. Nicosia and Tel Aviv bureaus maintained a 24-hour watch
on Lebanese and Israeli radios for days and assisted their respective
embassies with monitored information on critical developments in the
ongoing hostage saga. The Wire Services Staff was in close contact with
watch offices, in particular the State working group and OCPAS. Such
consumers as the VOA Newsroom praised FBIS for its extensive coverage and
timely reportage. FBIS filed a "CRITIC" on the dispersal of the hostages
from the airplane, based on an initial report from a Lebanese radio
controlled by the Druze faction. (C)
In response to a request from the office of Vice President Bush, a team
of AG analysts and the Wire Services Staff prepared a world reaction report
on the hijacking. The report was to be used in briefing books for the
Vice President and Secretary of State Shultz. (C)
RADIO MARTI
FBIS bureaus were notified when Radio Marti went on the air on 20 May,
and in addition to reporting extensive worldwide reaction to the inauguration
of the broadcasts, Panama and Key West bureaus maintained 24-hour operations
for the better part of two weeks to report on the behavior of Cuban trans-
mitters which could be used for jamming or counter-broadcasting. (S)
Key West observations of radio behavior alerted the Radio Marti Task
Force to a potentially eMbarassing situation, when it noted that Radio Marti
was transmitting on, among other frequencies, 1420 kHz, which was an
unannounced frequency and a surprise to VOA. Acting on the FBIS alert, the
FCC determined that the Marti signal on 1420 kHz was a spurious radiation
resulting from interaction of Marti's transmitters with a commercial
broadcast station a mile away. FCC and VOA technicians worked with Key
West Bureau in trying to correct the situation. (S)
FBIS -BBC COORDINATION VEETING
The annual FBIS-BBC coordination meeting was held in the UK 29-31
May. BBC indicated that financial constraints may reduce the number of
additional personnel it had planned to bring on board, but no serious
impact on modernization is foreseen, with two new BBC monitoring
dishes expected to be in service within the next two years. An FBIS-BBC
committee to coordinate satellite monitoring was established. (C)
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INTERNET PROGRESS
COMSAT Corporation has been selected as the contractor for the
INTERNET project to represent FBIS in applying for a satellite transponder
lease and to work with British Telecom Inc. and the Panamanian satellite
authority to establish ground terminals and communications to the FBIS
London and Panama bureaus. Contractor responsibility for the U.S. terminal
remains to be decided. COMSAT has reserved a transponder and will present
the FBIS case to the Intelsat Board of Governors. Assuming full approval
in September, construction of ground terminals at the London and Panama
bureaus will begin on 1 October 1985 with activation of Phase I of INTERNET
on 1 October 1986. (C)
BANGKOK ROSET
Construction of the Bangkok satellite monitoring site is proceeding
on schedule, with concrete now being poured for the antenna base. The
bureau has been informally notified that microwave frequency allocations
will be granted soon by Thai communications authorities. (U9J1J0)
MODERNIZATION STATUS
Lockheed Electronics Corporation has been selected as the contractor
for the FBIS automated information handling and retrieval system. The
selection was approved by the Agency Contract Review Board on 25 June, and
the contract is expected to be signed soon. (U/AIUO)
HEADQUARTERS DISH
Construction of the FBIS satellite monitoring antenna at Headquarters
began the last week of June, with a targeted completion date of Labor Day.
The antenna will be used to monitor Soviet and some European television. (C)
TV CENTER DEVELOPMENTS
Four cruising monitor trainees in MOD are being cross-trained in
television operations to provide adequate manpower for FBIS' expanding
television operations, including handling of the "Five Cities" tapes,
which are coming in regularly. MOD is moving to fill a total of six
positions for the TV Center in Key Building and six positions to operate
the Headquarters dish antenna. (C)
WEST COAST REUNION
The >sixth annual Avinion .06 HIS tetiteez on the West Coast wia be
had in Santa Roza thiz clean on 21 Septemben. DetaUz can be
obtained VLom
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MEWS FROM THE BUREAUS
HU YAOBANG At the request of the Department of State, Hong Kong Bureau
INTERVIEW provided a full translation on a priority basis of a lengthy
interview in a Hong Kong journal with Hu Yaobang, the
General Secretary of the Chinese CP. The interview seemed to raise the
possibility of PRC use of force to regain Taiwan. The department expressed
appreciation for the rapid translation in a cable to FBIS and to its missions
in Beijing and Hong Kong, noting that the FBIS response allowed State to counter
misimpressions fostered by early wire service accounts. (C)
KOREA During the occupation of the USIS library in Seoul by protesting
SIT IN students 23-26 May, the public affairs officer provided the
students with material from Pyongyang radio supplied by Seoul
Bureau hailing their protest, which illustrated to them the benefits their
action gave the North. The bureau also assisted the embassy by
providing a rapid translation of a letter to the student occupiers from
the two most influential ROK opposition politicians. (C)
PHILIPPINES Discussions between Okinawa Bureau and U.S. Embassy officials
SURVEY in Tokyo on measures to improve monitoring of Philippine
radios in times of crisis have resulted in permission for
FBIS to survey Philippine radio reception
(C)
LIBYAN "VOICE Broadcasts by the Libyan "Voice Of Vengeance and Sacred
OF VENGEANCE" Hatred" beamed to Morocco have been halted following
Moroccan protests based on transcripts of some of the
broadcasts filed by Nicosia Bureau. Ambassasor Reed in Rabat had shown
the transcripts of broadcasts inciting violence against the Jewish
communities in Morocco to King Hassan on 17 April. On the 20th Hassan
sent his interior minister to Libya to ask Qadhafi to stop the broadcasts,
which were discontinued soon after. (S)
FBIS teceived waAm pkai4e in the new betetZeit AU Faze Down; Ameltica'is
Ttagic Encounten with Than by Gaty Sick, the pAincipme White House aide
4o1L Inan duAing the IAanian nevaution and the hostage CAZSi.4. In a
400tnote he gave the 4ottowing dezetiption o4 FBIS: "The Foneign
Btoadcast In4oxmation Setvice (FBIS) ,ifs a seAvice o6 the U.S. Govetnment.
ThLAemaAkabZe oAganization monitou oAdinaAy commenciae -'tad-Lo bAoadcazts
thAoughout the woxed and pAovidez atmo4t instantaneous tAanztationz o4
impoAtant items, which axe made avaitabZe on a subscAiption basis to news
oAganizationz, AezeaAch inistitutionz and intaested citizens, as &oat az
the govetnment. These AepoAtz pAovide an extAaotdinany weatth o4 timety
in4oxmation on potitica and economic devetopment atound the woxed. The
speed and accuAacy with which comptex texts we/Le ttanstated and ttansmitted
nevet ceases to amaze me. Nten, FB1S uws the onty souAce o4 in4oAmation
about what waz going on in TehAan. The men and women o4 FIS aAe among
that ZaAge band o unsung hetoez who do vitatty impoAtant wotk but zetdom
Aeceive any ckedit." (U)
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PRODUCTION GROUP NEWS
The CTS automated ACTS system, which attempts to prevent double
translations of documents by maintaining a complete list of USG-
sponsored translations, turned up over 10,000 duplicative articles
during April at a cost savings of over $1M. Savings topped the $1M
mark in May as well. Prior to automation of the system in mid-1983,
savings were usually on the order of $1M a year. Several more
government offices, including the Congressional Office of Technology
Assessment, Patrick Air Force Base, and the Armament Research and
Development Center, have recently begun using the ACTS system. (UNIX))
The first steps toward establishing the SU Center were taken on
1 April, when three NEAD Japanese and Chinese language officers became
part of the UD Science and Technology Branch. Simultaneously, a third
program was created in the branch--the Biological Sciences and
Technologies Program--and the two existing programs were reconfigured
and renamed: the Technology Program was renamed the Physical Sciences
and Engineering Program, and the Science Program became the Communications,
Computers and Electronics Program. Several ELAAD officers and an additional
three NEAD IO's will move into the Center as soon as space becomes available.
(U/AIUO)
Name changes for the other USSR Division branches and programs also
became official on 1 April. The Foreign and National Affairs Branch .
became the International/Economic/Military Affairs Branch and the two
branch programs are the International/Military Program and the Economics
Program. The Nationalities Branch now is called the Internal Political
Branch and its two programs are the Northern Republics and Southern
Republics programs. The new names more accurately reflect the coverage
areas of the components. (U/AIUO)
A 234-page JPRS reference aid, "Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Special
Terms Used in the Hungarian Press," printed in 1978 was scanned through
the Kurzweil optical character reader, a new piece of equipment delivered
and installed in April, and copied to diskettes for ELAAD officers to
update on an IBM PC. The scanning process took about 10 hours. (U/AIUO)
SPECIAL SERVICES
James Murphy, Assistant Special Trade Representative for Europe and
Japan, asked NEAD to provide periodic updates to a Foreign Press Note on
Japanese plans for capital investments in the semiconductor industry.
Mr. Murphy is currently negotiating this issue with Japan. (U/AIUO)
UD published a 539-page compilation of articles and speeches by
Soviet leader Gorbachev over the past 25 years. Gorbachev is the first
general secretary in recent times to came to power without having had
his collected works compiled and published in the USSR. The material
was collected from a variety of sources, ranging from the central press
to an obscure agricultural journal. (U/AIUO)
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At the request of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board,
ELAAD translated several Turkish press articles containing statements to
Turkish prosecutors by attempted papal assassin Ali Agca. (U/AIUO)
A JPRS contractor completed a priority Chinese translation of 20,000-word
biography of PRC rocket expert Qian Xuesen. The request was submitted by
the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the Excutive Office of the
President. (U/AIUO)
ANALYSIS GROUP ACTIVITIES
At the request of the NIO for the USSR, AG compiled a collection of
Gorbachev statements on U.S.-Soviet relations and also provided copies of
all Gorbachev statements on any topic since he became general secretary.
A lengthier special memorandum of Gorbachev foreign policy statements has
also been an item in high demand. (C)
Responding to a request from SOVA, which is trying to determine whether
the USSR is now providing less public information on military exercises
than in the past, AG provided issues of the Soviet military paper KRASNAYA
ZVEZDA from 1967 and 1970. If the SOVA supposition is accurate, the papers
will be used during negotiations in Geneva. FBIS is apparently the only
organization in the U.S. Government that still has hard copy files of old
Soviet papers. (S)
AG will be preparing bimonthly listings of Soviet comments on Arms
Control Treaty violations for the next few months to pass to Senator
James A. McClure (R, Idaho), who sits on the Senate Defense Committee.
Senator McClure has asked for frequent updates on available Soviet comment
in anticipation of a "heating up" of the issue during summer floor debates.
(U/AIUO)
On 17 May a message from the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador requested
that FBIS compile ASAP all published radio broadcasts reporting government
atrocities in El Salvador since January. The request was to assist Embassy
efforts to assess guerrilla claims of indiscriminate air and ground attacks
against civilians. About 30 responsive items, retrieved by AG, were refiled
to the Embassy. (C)
At the request of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board,
AG Research Staff searched its files for any Soviet material on Poland,
Pope John Paul II, or the Catholic Church during the period March-April
1981. Nothing was found on the Pope or the Catholic Church, but over 200
items were located on Poland and sent to the PFIAB. (C)
AG has supplied Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Frank Gaffney
with analyses of Soviet public statements on SDI and textual translations
of noteworthy Soviet statements on the subject. The information will be
used by Mr. Gaffney to prepare for a debate in Stockholm with Georgiy
Arbatov. (C)
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Ambassador Goodby,?head of the U.S. delegation to the Conference on
Confidence and Security Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe (ODE),
asked AG to prepare a comparative analysis of Soviet media reporting
'during the previous negotiating round earlier this year and during the
current round. He also asked for a printout of statements by Soviet
Ambassador Grinevskiy and all Soviet press commentary since January. (C)
At the request of INR, AG prepared a report on foreign reaction,
concentrating on the USSR and Syria, to the recent Administration proposal
to sell arms to Jordan. The report was for use by Secretary Shultz. (C)
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo expressed appreciation for an AG analysis
of Egyptian treatment of Libya, prepared at its request, and asked for
periodic updates. The Embassy believes that the Egyptians have taken
a much more aggressive and hostile tone in their commentary on Qadhafi
since the Sudan coup. (C)
In response to interest expressed by the NIO for the USSR in the
Soviet assessment of the political strength of the Reagan Administration,
AG examined Soviet public statements on the opposition to Administration
policies within the United States and Soviet assessments of tensions
within the Western alliance. (C)
PERSONNEL NOTES
who tetited neeent4, wa4 awanded the Intatigence
Commendation Medct. by the DDSgT at a cetemony on 20 June. (U/AIU0)
HIS ?Wee/Lis had two antieee6 in the Spng 1985 ..4zue oi Studiez
in Intettigence. wtote on "Soviet TeteOizion: A New
Aimet Ktemtin wateheu,- and wtote on "Lozt in
Ttanztation: Soviet RSV Ctue6."
DEATHS
FBIS was saddened to learn that Paul V. Walsh, former A/DDI died on
May 10 at his home in McLean. Mr. Walsh joined the Agency in 1952,
was AIDDI for many years when FBIS was a part of the DI, and
retired in 1980. (C)
FBIS learned recently of the death of two retirees.
a long-time editor with FBIS, died in Virginia.
recently retired as a monitor from the Nicosia Bureau and
a former employee of the Mediterranean Bureau, died of a heart attack
in Cyprus. (U)
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Paye,
game which
4amity 4atm
SPORTS FLASH!
inom the Daity Repont and Witte 4aced o44 in a
took ptace duning a iamity picnic on 23 June at
in Gaithetsbutg. Ptayet-managen o4 the Wine "Fta4hete
made a 4t4ategic move by 4igning many o6 the top
zogbatt
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team,
GS-tanked
ptayeA4.
The gambit paid o44, az the DR 6ietdeA4 mystetiousty chopped a
numbet o6 eazy pop-up hit
by those who wowed -Eaten_ be 4uAveying
that
PAR'-o. stile, the tike4 o4
did manage
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two powet btasts oven the hedges
in te4t 6.ized (which onty
counted
4on
gtound-Aute doubtes). Wet hit-tiAg one theke him4et4,
switch-
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hit az a Zegy next time up, aiming 4on the
(Dann. Un6oAtunately,
the
shot hit a high bnanch oi the ttee in night
4ietd, and
had to
4ettte
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6oA hiz second doubte. The DR's tozing ptayet-managen,
waz
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abte to stAike out
Zatek ptoved
his wonth
when
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he tobbed
shwa
a 4u/Le extna-baze
te,4t.
hit by diving into
the vegetabZe patch in
tatek
cetebtated his victony by jumping into the ganden
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bindbath. The two teams tetited to the te4t4we puuuit o4 nonstop
voteeybatt and ?then 4undty athtetic and imbibitionat activitie4. (U)
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