THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 OCTOBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976409
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: October 15, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500020001-3
The President's Daily Brief
15 October 1968
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
15 OCTOBER 1968
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1. Panama Efforts by Arias and others to
stir up trouble for the junta have had
little success. Panama as a whole re-
mains calm.
2. Syria
3..Communist China
.Mem-
bers of Arias' own coalition, convinced
his cause is doomed, hope he can be per-
suaded to clear the way for a civilian
government by leaving the country.
? Plotting is the nearest thing to
a Syrian national sport, and reports
of impending coups appear constantly.
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We think it highly un- 50X1
likely that any new government 50X1
would modify Syria's anti-US foreign
policy or end the country's chronic in-
stability.
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4. Sabah
5. Soviet Union
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Now-that_Marcos has outdone his
domestic opponents in _pressing the
Sabah claim, prominent opposition poli-
?ticians in-Manila are beginning to
'question the_claim's validity. This
typically Filipino by-play may take
some of the heat out of the issue.
Marcos himself has reduced ten-
sions a bit by raising the idea of
arbitration, and the Malaysian deputy
prime minister has agreed to meet the
Philippine foreign minister late this
month. Marcos has asked both the Brit-
ish ambassador and Ambassador Williams
to help arrange a summit meeting with
Prime Minister Rahman.
All this does not mean an early
solution of the dispute, but it may
permit the two sides to,have another
try at a cooling-off period.
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6. North Korea
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
is
15 October 1968
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006500020001-3
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
15 October 1968
I, NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Le Duc Tho Back to Hanoi: After spending the
last two months in Paris, North Vietnamese politburo
member Le Duc Tho left France for Hanoi
on 14 October, A North Vietnamese spokesman said
the trip was for consultation. He professed ignorance
in response to questions about when or if Tho would
return to Paris.
* * *
'Front Officials Arrive in Sweden: Two Libera-
tion Front officials arrived in Stockholm on 14 Octo-
ber to set up a Front information office there, ac-
cording to a French news agency dispatch. One of the
Communist arrivals will be the first chief of the
new office; the other is a Front Central Committee mem-
ber. This is the second such office to be opened in a
nen-Communist European country--Paris was the first.
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:II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
:ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Le on Bundy: Nguyen Thanh Le, the spokesman for
Hanoi's Paris delegation, has provided the first. Viet-
namese Communist reaction to McGeorge Bundy's recent
speech on Vietnam. At his regular press briefing yes-
terday, Le was asked if he had any comment on Bundy's
proposals. He replied, "With regard to the statement
by Mr. Bundy on the unconditional cessation of bombing,
we consider it a realistic measure which has positive
effects."
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