MONTHLY REPORT--NICOSIA BUREAU--FEBRUARY 1981

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00385R000200090022-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2007
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: March 2, 1981
• Content Type: MEMO

2 March 1981
MNC-1007
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director FBIS
THROUGH : Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report--Nicosia Bureau--February 1981
On 20 February the bureau received formal Cyprus Telecommunications
Authority (CYTA) approval to use CYTA's Pissouri antenna site on the
southern coast of Cyprus as a remote receiving site. The principal
purposes of remoting radio signals to the bureau from the Pissouri
site will be to provide reliable year-round coverage of Athens and
better backup coverage of several Middle Eastern transmitters. Although
the initial reception survey at the site had been a bit disappointing,
the reception situation was substantially improved when an FBIS team
visited the site in mid January and carried out a number of reception
tests. The bureau is working toward activating the remoting operations
in April.
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A. Editorial/Monitorial
1. On 17 Febraury at the Wire Service's request the bureau
discontinued double FYI coverage of speeches by Egyptian President as-
Sadat (running and flash substantive FYI's) which had been instituted in
April 1979 in response to Headquarters and BBC feedback. The bureau will
now file only a single series of substantive FYI's on As-Sadat speeches.
2. As Jordan Bureau's reception of Voice of Palestine
radio remained unstable throughout the month, Nicosia took back coverage
of the radio's 1100-1300 GMT cast 8-13 February and continues to backstop
record all casts with occasional backstop processing.
3. With Headquarters concurrence the bureau discontinued' its
biweekly editorial report on Baghdad Persian programs. The bureau is now
processing from the programs on merit.
4. As of 2 February, the bureau receives Turkish press
summaries on Saturdays. We are now able to provide processing 6 days
per week.
5. The bureau processed the Moscow Greek 1600 and 1900 GMT
casts 14-17 February to cover the BBC Greek monitor's leave.
6.. The bureau covered Jerusalem Hebrew casts for 2 hours
on 20 February during a scheduled power outage at Tel Aviv Bureau.
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7. On 11 February the bureau was alerted by Headquarters
that Nicosia's copy had been garbling over the previous few weeks.
Bureau engineers isolated the trouble to bureau interface equipment
at the Embassy, and requests for refiles have subsequently abated.
B. Lateral/Special Services
On 2 February the Embassy in Cairo requested immediate
texting of a 35-minute 29 January speech by Egyptian President as-Sadat
marking the Green Revolution anniversary. The item was texted and filed
within 5 hours.
A. Senior Editor
PCS from Washington on 15 February.
Washington on 27 February.
wife Bonnie, and children arrived STAT
and wife Peggy departed PCS for
STAT
C. Bureau Chief and Chief Monitor STAT
visited Brindisi, Italy, on TD - ebruary and 1-18 February respective y.
D. Regional Engineer
starting 17 February.
visited Tel Aviv TDY STAT
Nicosia rovided an unusually warm welcome to the family of new
Senior Editor when the stove of the Embassy guest house, STAT
in which the were temporarily staying, caught fire due to an STAT
electrical short during the early morning of 26 February. The house
quickly filled with smoke, and the fire was only kept from spreading
said an Embassy notice, when "smoke detectors alerted the occupants
who reacted quickly." In the excitement few remembered that just the
day before the fire Bill had vowed to take any means necessary to kill the
bugs who are the permanent occupants of the house.
Nicosia Bureau Chie
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Operations (including Production and Traffic Reports)
B. Engineering Report
STAT
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