THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 MAY 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014798
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 15, 1975

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The President's Daily Brief
a.
May 15, 1975
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category, 5B(11.12).(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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May 15, 1975
Table. of Contents,
Laos: The Pathet Lao are encouraging increasingly
hostile street demonstrations against US gov-
ernment installations and personnel. (Page 1)
Iran
(Page 3)
CSCE: Most delegations at the European Security
conference believe that the next ?few weeks
in Geneva will be crucial. (Page 6)
Notes: France; Israel-Lebanon (Page 8)
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LAOS
The Pathet Lao are encouraging stu-
dent activists, political opportunists,
war veterans, and labor organizations to
mount increasingly hostile street demon-
strations against US government instal-
lations and personnel in Vientiane and
other major urban areas.
The Pathet Lao's minimum objective appears to
be the elimination of USAID and other American or-
ganizations from provincial Laos. If the state-
ments of communist Deputy Prime Minister Phoumi
Vongvichit are to be believed, however, the Pathet
Lao may be willing to tolerate--at least for the
moment--a reduced US official presence in Vientiane.
They also appear willing, and in some cases even
anxious, to receive unconditional US assistance,
provided such aid is channeled directly to the coa-
lition government now effectively under their con-
trol.
The demonstrations against USAID facilities
in Luang Prabang have ended, but are continuing in
Savannakhet. Student agitators in Savannakhet have
occupied the USAID compound and are still holding
hostage three of its American employees and the
area's rightist provincial governor. According to
a late report, the Americans are being well treated
and are in phone contact with USAID officials. The
students are demanding that the coalition government
send a delegation to remedy their grievances, which
are a carbon copy of those recently espoused by the
so-called "People's Liberation Movement" in the
southern rightist stronghold of Pakse. Aside from
the ouster of USAID, these demands include:
--"Neutralization" of Savannakhet and the rest
of the central Laotian panhandle provinces and
their direct administration by the coalition
government.
--Removal from office of most civilian and
military rightist officials, and the formal
ouster of Prince Boun Oum na Champassak as
inspector general of the Kingdom.
(continued)
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--Freedom of movement and commerce between non-
communist and Pathet Lao zones in central and
southern Laos.
No Americans have been seized during the demon-
strations in Luang Prabang, but the USAID compound
there has been thoroughly vandalized and a number
of local business establishments looted. All offi-
cial US personnel and their dependents were safely
evacuated by air from the royal capital to Vientiane
late yesterday.
Demonstrations began last night in Thakhek--
still another southern rightist bastion--and others
are scheduled over the next several days in Vientiane.
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I RAN
(continued)
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(continued)
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CSCE
Most delegations at the European
security conference believe that the next
few weeks in Geneva will be crucial. The
pace of the conference has increased per-
ceptibly, some issues have been settled,
and a working group has begun planning
for a final summit-level meeting. Nev-
ertheless, if the conference is to con-
clude this summer--as the Soviet and
virtually all other delegations hope--
many issues will have to be resolved in
a relatively short time.
While Soviet negotiators recently have shown
flexibility on some matters, they have stalled on
others and even reopened debate on several issues
considered settled months ago. Basically, the So-
viets apparently are counting on the Western partic-
ipants to give in and stop trying to wring conces-
sions. The West European delegations are having
difficulty matching the determination and resolve
of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets recently accepted a French compro-
mise proposal that ended a long deadlock concerning
the declaration of principles that the conference
has been formulating as a guide to international
relations. The conference has yet to reach agree-
ment, however, on the wording of a "saving clause"
implying that the rights and responsibilities of
the US, UK, France, and the USSR in Germany and
Berlin are not affected by the conference's deci-
sions. Many of the neutral delegations read the
present draft as an affirmation of the "Brezhnev
doctrine" on intervention in Eastern Europe.
Soviet negotiators have also shown some flexi-
bility on one of the major military-related "con-
fidence-building measures," but only after the West-
ern and neutral delegations made an important con-
cession to Moscow. The Soviets said that they could
accept the Western idea of providing advance notice
about national and multinational military maneuvers,
if the notification were voluntary.
(continued)
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The Soviets have continued to stall on matters
concerned with the freer movement of people and
ideas. Western negotiators now intend to present a
single text covering all such topics. They argue
that such an initiative now would put maximum pres-
sure on the Soviets to come to reasonable terms.
The Soviets' attitude on this subject, however, is
such that they may well continue to stall.
The question of follow-on machinery to the con-
ference also remains to be resolved. The Soviet
side says it wants a post-conference consultative
committee with a broad mandate to discuss issues
affecting security and cooperation in Europe. The
committee would have a permanent secretariat, one
of the more objectionable features of the proposal
as far as the West is concerned. There is some rea-
son to believe that the Soviets--perhaps worried
by the great opportunity a' standing mechanism would
give to the Romanians and other bloc members to
needle Moscow--eventually will settle for something
less permanent.
The Western delegations formally support a
Danish proposal that calls for senior officials to
meet three years after the conference ends to assess
the results and decide whether further meetings are
needed. The West Europeans, however, are sharply
split on the issue. The Dutch, Belgians, and French
advocate as little follow-on activity as possible,
while the British and now even the Danes are pre-
pared to accept relatively frequent meetings of
experts and senior officials. Other NATO members
continue to support the formal Danish proposal.
On this issue, as on many others, the NATO allies
are hoping that the US will. take the lead.
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French South Pacific Test Center
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NOTES
France is expected to conduct its first under-
ground nuclear test in the South Pacific before
the end of the month.
The French issued a
"notice to mariners" in February warning ships
and planes to stay outside a 42-mile danger zone
surrouning the Mururoa and Fagataufa atolls
through the end of the year. Only one or two
tests, both underground, are expected this year.
Israel's military activity in southern Leb-
anon over the past three days appears aimed as
much at the Lebanese as at the fedayeen.
Harassment of Israeli reconnaissance patrols
by Lebanese mortar fire last week apparently was
the principal cause of the recent Israeli actions,
which included raids into villages- and the taking
of prisoners. The approach of today's anniversary
of the Arab attacks at the time of Israeli inde-
pendence in 1948--often the occasion for fedayeen
terrorist incidents--was probably another factor.
Israeli units routinely patrol inside Lebanon's
southern border, but had not enteredvillages or
taken captives since the major clashes with feda-
yeen and Lebanese army units last January. No
casualties have been reported from this week's
activities, and Israel announced yesterday that
it had released some of the villagers taken during
the raids.
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Top Secret
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