THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 18 NOVEMBER 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014957
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: November 18, 1975

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The President's Daily Brief
November 18, 1975
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption categoiy,5B(0.121,(31
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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November 18, 1975
Table Of Contents
Syria: UN officials in the Middle East are said to
be convinced that Syria will renew the mandate
of the Golan observer forces. (Page 1)
Lebanon: A new 300-man government security force
will attempt to stop the kidnaping, sniping,
and looting that continue to threaten the two-
week-old cease-fire. (Page 2)
Egypt-USSR: Agreement seems unlikely in talks be-
ginning today in Cairo on rescheduling Egypt's
debt to the USSR. (Page 3)
Angola: The National Front and the National Union,
despite their recent successes in joint mili-
tary operations, have been unable to agree on
the "government" they proclaimed on November
11. (Page 4)
Notes: Portugal; Israel; USSR - South Yemen; USSR;
Canada; Thailand; China - North Korea - Aus-
tralia (Pages 5, 6, and 7)
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SYRIA
UN officials in the Middle
said to be convinced that Syria
new the mandate of the observer
stationed on the Golan Heights,
expire on November 30.
East are
will re-
forces
due to
Lieutenant General Silasvuo, the UN coordina-
tor of Middle Eastern peacekeeping operations, re-
portedly came away from talks last week with Syrian
Defense Minister Talas and chief of staff Shihabi
so convinced that Syria would extend the mandate
that he has advised Secretary General Waldheim that
he need not make a special visit to Damascus at
this time.
President Asad and his advisers may have con-
cluded that Syria has no attractive alternatives
and must therefore renew the mandate. Neverthe-
less, we are puzzled by these reports since we still
? expect the Syrians to withhold formal approval un-
til the last moment in hopes of obtaining some dip-
lomatic quid pro quo from the US and Israel.
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LEBANON
Interior Minister Shamun announced
yesterday that a new 300-man government
security force will begin patrolling
Beirut today. The heavily armed unit
will attempt to stop the kidnaping,
sniping, and looting that continue to
threaten the two-week-old cease-fire.
Shamun, the most powerful Christian in the
cabinet, emphasized that the force is composed of
"commandos" from both the Lebanese army and the
internal security force. Shamun has been arguing
for greater use of the army, and he will interpret
the cabinet's approval of the special unit as a vic-
tory over Prime Minister Karami.
Karami, a Muslim, has referred to the unit only
as a "special detachment" of the regular security
service. The Prime Minister recently has had great
difficulty controlling some of his radical followers
and must minimize any concessions to the Christians.
Karami apparently allowed the security unit to
be formed in return for Christian acceptance--at
least in principle--of his proposals for political
and economic reforms. The cabinet agreed last Sat-
urday that Karami and President Franjiyah should
together formulate specific proposals for ensuring
Muslim and Christian equality in parliament and the
civil service, for limiting unemployment, and for
stimulating economic recovery.
The right-wing Phalangists, who are not repre-
sented in the cabinet, have offered cautious approval
of Karami's proposals. They are relieved that the
Prime Minister is not now threatening a formal reduc-
tion of the powers of the Christian president, and
that his program falls short of the more fundamental
changes suggested only last week by the committee on
political reform.
Muslim leftists on the committee and some Beirut
newspapers are attacking the Christians for refusing
to make greater concessions and Karami for his
willingness to compromise. One such leftist, Baath
Party leader Assam Qansu, has threatened that he may
withdraw from the reform committee.
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EGYPT-USSR
A Soviet delegation will arrive in
Cairo today to continue talks on resched-
uling Egypt's debt to the USSR. It seems
unlikely that the two governments will
reach agreement.
President Sadat has claimed that the total
Egyptian debt to the USSR is $4 billion, most of
which is for military purchases. The Egyptians
want a ten-year moratorium and the right to make
future payments in goods rather than in hard cur-
rency./
The Soviets are likely to come up with some
counterproposals, but they will probably fall far
short of meeting Egyptian demands. The Soviets
will also discuss trade relations with the Egyp-
tains. r
By continuing the debt discussions, Moscow
hopes to suggest flexibility in its position and
to indicate that responsibility for any further
deterioration in relations rests with Sadat. The
Soviets apparently plan to maintain pressure on
Cairo until Sadat makes some specific political
gesture acceptable to Moscow.
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ANGOLA
Despite the recent successes in
their joint military operations, the
National Front and the National Union
have been unable to agree on the struc-
ture or the leadership of the "govern-
ment" they proclaimed on independence
day, November 11.
The National Front's Holden Roberto and the
National Union's Jonas Savimbi seem to be hesitat-
ing about too close an identification with the
joint government for fear of compromising their
postwar political ambitions.
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NOTES
Portugal's Prime Minister Azevedo is said to
be ready to make some changes in his government in
reaction to the recent Communist-Zed attacks on
government ministries.
The changes being considered reportedly do not
involve any officials above the sub-cabinet level.
Shifts even at that level, however, could be sig-
nificant if they involve the politically sensitive
labor or social communications ministries, which
have borne the brunt of the Communist offensive.
A reshuffle in these ministries might mollify the
opposition temporarily and buy some time for the
government, but it would be unlikely to have any
sustained effect upon the Communists' drive to gain
greater representation in the government and the
ruling Revolutionary Council.
The government and press in Israel are react-
ing sharply to the statement on the Palestinian
question made last week by Deputy Assistant Saun-
ders.
After the regular Israeli cabinet session on
Sunday, a communique said all ministers had strongly
criticized the Saunders statement, claiming it con-
tained errors and distortions. Government officials
reportedly are concerned by what they believe is
the statement's assumption that the main obstacle
to peace is the Palestinian problem rather than the
Arab refusal to recognize Israel. They also are
worried that it may be the first step in a US cam-
paign designed to convince the Israelis eventually
to accept the PLO as a negotiating partner.
There appears to be a widespread feeling in
Israel that Washington is now emphasizing the Pal-
estinian question because it has begun to take seri-
ously Syrian President Asad's repeated assertions
that he will not enter into talks on a settlement
with Israel unless the Palestinian issue is included.
(continued)
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The Soviet Union successfully launched an un-
manned Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz 20, into Earth orbit
yesterday.
The craft is in position to rendezvous and
dock--probably today--with the Salyut 4 space sta-
tion, which has been in orbit since December 1974.
Indications are that the mission will last about
90 days and will check out the reliability of space-
craft systems in preparation for a manned flight of
long duration next year.
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The Canadian cabinet's committee on priorities
has decided to maintain Canada's land and air forces
in Europe at their current levels.
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The committee's decision is tantamount to full
cabinet approval. The committee is chaired by
Prime Minister Trudeau and includes the ministers
of finance and external affairs. The modernization
of Canada's forces assigned to NATO apparently will
be delayed to accord with the government's efforts
to cut spending.
(continued)
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A high-level Thai government official has pri-
vately assured the US embassy that Foreign Minister
Chatchai was not speaking for the Thai government
two weeks ago when he claimed that Bangkok had de-
cided to return US aircraft to Laos.
Chatchai's failure to raise the question with
the US ambassador last week is a further indication
that he has been overruled by Prime Minister Khukrit.
The Thai government maintains the position that dis-
position of the aircraft should be settled directly
by the US with Laos and Vietnam. A new clash be-
tween Thai and Lao forces along the Mekong River
border erupted yesterday and was continuing early
today. It will likely further harden Bangkok's po-
sition against sending back the planes.
The Chinese have made clear their displeasure
over North Korea's suspension of diplomatic rela-
tions with Australia.
As the Australians prepared to leave Pyongyang,
the Chinese ambassador shook hands with each of them
in full view of Korean officials. The Chinese also
made a special effort to facilitate issuance of
Chinese visas to the Australians, who traveled
through Peking on their way home. Although Peking
will not make a major issue of the incident with
Pyongyang, the Chinese almost certainly hope to make
it clear to Australia--and probably other countries--
that they played no part in North Korea's over re-
action to Australian handling of the Korean question
at the UN.
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Top Secret
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