THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 12 SEPTEMBER 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007814
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 12, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
September 12, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 513(1 ).(2).(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
1
,11 V .09
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
September 12, 1974
Table of Contents
China-India: Peking reacts harshly to India's ab-
sorption of Sikkim. (Page 1)
Ethiopia: Armed forces depose Emperor Haile Selassie.
(Page 2)
Japan - South Korea: Japanese response fails to
satisfy South Korea. (Page 3)
OPEC: Slight increase in price of oil possible.
(Page 4)
Libya-US: Hints that Libyans want better relations.
(Page 5)
Egypt: Arabs to focus on Palestinians as political
issue at UN. (Page 6)
Cyprus: Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agree to
release some prisoners. (Page 7)
Turkey: Turks to consider proposal to keep opium
out of illegal channels. (Page 8)
Notes: Egypt-Israel; Mozambique (Page 9)
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U. S. S. R.
Pak.
New
Delhi
Yellow
Sea
0
East
China
Sea
INDIA
HongLKong
Macao Am)
0.474LI
556590 9-74
Bay of Bengal Vl?mHAINAN
Thailand
Vietnam
South China Sea
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
CHINA-INDIA
India's absorption of Sikkim as an
"associate state" last week has brought
an unusually strong Chinese attack on In-
dian policy.. A Chinese Foreign Ministry
statement expressed indignation over In-
dia's "annexation" of Sikkim and pledged
support for those in Sikkim and India who
resist New Delhi's action.
The Chinese are now using harsh language nor-
mally reserved for the USSR. Peking has accused
India of reckless expansionism, comparable to the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and has person-
ally attacked Mrs. Gandhi.
Peking's harsh reaction appears to reflect con-
cern over the security implications of a stronger
Indian position along China's southwest frontier,
particularly in light of New Delhi's treaty ties
to Moscow and India's nascent nuclear strength.
/concerns were evident in the For-
eign Ministry statement, which charged that Moscow
was "the boss behind the scenes as well as the
abettor of India expansionism," and said India was
emboldened to act as it did in Sikkim by its nuclear
test in May.
The Sikkim issue has seriously damaged pros-
pects for improvement in China's relations with
India, and more direct Chinese involvement could
cause further deterioration.
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ETHIOPIA
The military deposed Emperor Haile
Selassie early this morning.
Preliminary reports indicate that the monarch's
son, Asfa Wossen, will succeed him on the throne. The
Armed Forces Coordinating Committee has dissolved par-
liament and suspended the constitution. Military
courts are also being formed.
Troops and tanks were in evidence in Addis Ababa
early today, but the city otherwise was calm. The
international airport reportedly is closed and all
flights suspended. A daily curfew has been instituted
for the hours of darkness, and demonstrations and
strikes are banned. There have been no reports of
disturbances in the provinces.
The ouster of Haile Selassie appears to have been
thoroughly prepared and accomplished in the generally
bloodless manner which has thus far characterized the
Ethiopian revolution. The Emperor had gradually been
stripped of all power, isolated, and subjected to in-
creasingly abusive propaganda attacks. Most of the
aristocracy, including some members of the royal fam-
ily, is under military detention.
The apparent decision to retain the monarchy in
an extremely attenuated form suggests that those on
the Armed Forces Coordinating Committee who favor a
genuinely constitutional regime and a reconciliation
of most elements in Ethiopian society still have the
upper hand.
Future prospects depend in large part on what
the military committee does with Haile Selassie.
Radicals on the committee have been pressing for his
trial and possible execution, while the moderates ap-
pear to have favored allowing him to live out his
life under their control in one of his palaces in the
countryside.
Crown Prince Asfa Wossen
fifties,
is in his late
He is
in Europe and may be unwilling to return to Ethiopia.
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JAPAN - SOUTH KOREA
Last minute efforts to ease tensions
between Japan and South Korea foundered
when Seoul rejected a draft of Japanese
Prime Minister Tanaka's personal letter
to President Pak.
Foreign Minister Kim told the US charO that
the major difficulties Seoul had with the letter
were that Japanese admissions of responsibility
for not preventing the assassination attempt on
Pak were "too obscure" and that Japanese promises
to curb terrorist actions aimed at South Korea
were "too weak."
Although Seoul has apparently indicated a
willingness to negotiate further, Tokyo maintains
that the rejected draft is a "final position."
Kim claimed that, barring any new signal from
Tokyo, his government is prepared to proceed with
its "previously prepared position"--presumably the
recall of its ambassador in Tokyo.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
OPEC
Oil ministers of the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries meet today
in Vienna; they are expected to set oil
prices for at least the next three months.
While almost anything can happen, the odds
favor a slight price increase.
The OPEC economic commission will reportedly
recommend a 14 percent price increase to offset in-
flation in the industrialized countries. Kuwait
and Venezuela have endorsed the proposal as a bar-
gaining chip to make sure that oil prices are not
lowered. They are expected to compromise on a price
freeze.
If a small price increase is approved, it will
probably take the form of increased company taxes.
Both Venezuela and Kuwait favor this because it will
put the onus on the oil companies. Venezuela is
likely to increase taxes on the companies no matter
what OPEC as a group decides.
Oil Supply
Venezuela has announced a plan to cut its oil
output to 2.6 million barrels per day in 1975. In
fact, Caracas reportedly will offer to cut its pro-
duction immediately to 2.5 million if necessary to
support high oil prices. This would drop Venezuelan
production by 600,000 barrels a day below average
production for the first six months of 1974 and
900,000 barrels a day below its production level
before the Arab-Israeli war.
No plans to cut output in other countries have
been reported, but with storage tanks nearing full
capacity and the surplus running at an estimated
1.5 million barrels a day, some other OPEC countries
may be forced to cut production soon.
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LIBYA-US
There have been a few recent straws in
the wind that Libyan leaders are consider-
ing modifying their generally hostile at-
titude toward the US. Middle-level Libyan
officials have intimated as much, and Pres-
ident Qadhafi himself has passed up recent
opportunities to rake the US over the coals.
The latest hint came a few days ago, when
Libya's ambassador to Syria, Ahmad Khayal,
told US embassy officials that Tripoli
wants to improve relations with Washington.
Khayal was apparently expressing his own
interpretation of signs from Libya.
Your congratulatory message to President Qadhafi
early this month on the anniversary of the Libyan
coup was apparently well received. Khayal described
it as a "good move." He went on to auggest a simul-
taneous reappointment of ambassadors as a specific
step toward rapprochement.
The Libyans have left the ambassadorial post in
Washington vacant since their ambassador was recalled
in November 1972 to stand trial for alleged misdeeds
committed under the monarchy. The US' most recent
ambassador to Libya retired from the post in December
1972.
Khayal said his government is recalling many of
its diplomats abroad for consultations and reappoint-
ments. He seemed to imply that Tripoli would find
it easier to name an ambassador to Washington as
part of a wider shuffle of its diplomatic corps.
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EGYPT
The Foreign Ministry has instructed
its ambassadors to seek support for in-
scription of the Palestinian issue as a
separate item on the agenda of the UN
General Assembly session that convenes
next week. Foreign Minister Fahmi has
made similar overtures in Cairo to the
ambassadors of key UN members.
The Egyptians appear to have focused on this
stratagem, mapped out initially by the Palestine
Liberation Organization and supported by the Arab
League last week, as a means of cajoling the PLO
into cooperating on broader peace negotiating is-
sues. Cairo probably thus hopes to induce the PLO
to agree that Jordan should negotiate for the return
of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Arabs have thus far avoided serious contro-
versy among themselves on these sensitive issues,
even though Jordan and the PLO are both members of
the committee drawing up a strategy at the UN.
The general outlines adopted by the Arab League--
scaled down from original PLO demands--do not call
for either observer status at the UN or recognition
of the PLO as the "sole" representative of the Pal-
estinians. The proposed UN resolution apparently
would affirm that the Palestinians constitute "a
nation" and are entitled to the right of self-
determination. As far as the General Assembly it-
self is concerned, the Arabs have limited them-
selves to urging that the PLO be invited to name a
representative to speak to the assembly.
The Egyptians will press the question of Pales-
tinian self-determination, while trying to steer
the UN debate clear of other inflammatory issues
that they believe would cause problems for the US.
In their view, a resolution affirming this concept
would give the Palestinians hope in the future of
establishing a separate state on the West Bank,
after Jordanian-Israeli negotiations.
Cairo has also told its ambassadors that a UN
resolution focusing on the Palestinian situation as
a political issue rather than as a refugee problem
will ease PLO inhibitions about participating in a
Geneva conference. The PLO has rejected UN Security
Council Resolution 242 as a basis for peace negotia-
tions because it recognizes the Palestinians' status
only as refugees.
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CYPRUS
The leaders of the Greek and Turkish
Cypriot communities reached agreement yes-
terday to release all detainees who are
either very old or under the age of 18,
as well as the sick and wounded and uni-
versity students and teachers. The date
of their release will be announced to-
morrow at the next scheduled meeting be-
tween the two leaders.
Disagreement continues, however, as to where
the remaining prisoners are to be released. The
Greek Cypriots insist that the prisoners should
be let go where they were captured or at their
place of origin, to avoid any implication of a
concession on population exchange. The Turkish
Cypriots, on the other hand, oppose any scheme that
would require Turkish Cypriots to return to vil-
lages within Greek Cypriot areas.
A Soviet delegation headed by Deputy Foreign
Minister Ilichev left Moscow yesterday for Ankara,
Nicosia, and Athens.
The timing of
the mission may be related to the opening of the
UN General Assembly later this month.
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TURKEY
The Turkish cabinet meeting today will
consider a proposal put forward by special
UN Emissary Sir Harry Greenfield for a sys-
tem of processing poppies that would help
keep opium out of illegal channels.
Greenfield told the US ambassador in Ankara
that he found a considerable number of Turkish offi-
cials, including Prime Minister Ecevit, in favor of
his proposal. His scheme forbids lancing the poppy
pod in the field to obtain the raw opium and, in-
stead, requires the collection of poppies in straw
form by state monopolies.
During the first year the straw would have to
be exported for processing to recover the derivatives
used for legitimate medical purposes, but the plan
calls for the early construction of a processing
plant in Turkey. In the interim, Greenfield claims
it might also be necessary to subsidize the farmers
temporarily if they obtain a lower price for the
straw than they would for raw opium.
Ecevit reportedly told Greenfield that there
is no serious obstacle to making the changes in
Turkish law that would be necessary to adopt the
straw processing system. Greenfield was impressed
with the cooperative attitude displayed by the
Turks on this issue. The US embassy in Ankara has
been less reassured by Turkish attitudes toward
other proposed control measures, such as reducing
the number of acres cultivated and requiring poppy
cultivation to be in areas close to main roads.
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NOTES
E9yp-5-Tsrael,:
Mozambique: Disorders are continuing despite
the collapse Tuesday of an incipient rebellion by
dissident whites. A total of 100 persons had been
killed and 250 wounded up to last night in street
violence in the black areas of Lourenco Marques.
Local authorities in the city have declared martial
law and instituted a curfew and they are being
joined in making public appeals for calm by lead-
ers of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique.
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Top Secret
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