THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 7 JUNE 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006015129
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 7, 1976

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A013400010022-4
The President's Daily Brief
June 7, 1976
2
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Exempt from general
declassification uhedule of E.O. I 1652
exemption category 5B(1),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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June 7, 1976
Table of Contents
Lebanon: Political maneuvering continued this weekend in Beirut
against a backdrop of renewed factional violence. (Page 1)
Arab States: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates
have been withholding financial aid to Syria, Jordan, and
Egypt in an effort to make those countries shape up finan-
cially and settle their political differences. (Page 2)
Egypt-Syria: The closures of the Egyptian embassy in Damascus
and the Syrian embassy in Cairo will have little practical
effect. (Page 3)
India-USSR: The visit this week of Prime Minister Gandhi to Mos-
cow shapes up as a routine affair, but it will give the two
countries an occasion to play up their close ties. (Page 3)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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LEBANON: Political con-
sultations quickened in
Beirut this weekend in
an effort to forestall
further Syrian military
intervention.
President-elect Sarkis met with
rightwing Christian leaders on Sat-
urday in another bid to lay the
basis for a roundtable conference
of the various Lebanese factions.
On the same day, leftist leader
Kamal Jumblatt conferred with the
religious leader of the Sunni Mus-
lims in Lebanon. Both leaders an-
nounced their support for an early
conference. Jumblatt, however,
continues to appeal for outside
help against the Syrians.
On the diplomatic front, Libyan
Prime Minister Jallud and an Alger-
ian emissary arrived in Damascus
Saturday in a further effort to
mend the rift between Syria and
the Palestinian-leftist alliance
in Lebanon. This mission grew out
of discussions of Syria's interven-
tion at a meeting held in Tripoli
the day before with Palestine Lib-
eration Organization chairman Yasir
Arafat and a two-man Iraqi delega-
tion.
Jallud and the Algerian met with
President Asad yesterday, but they
apparently made little headway.
Factional violence erupted in Leb-
anon again this weekend, with the
most serious clashes occurring in
and around Beirut between Syrian-
controlled Saiqa units and Fatah
and leftist forces. There are at
least a thousand Syrian regulars
disguised as Saiqa operating in the
Beirut area and some almost cer-
tainly participated in the clashes.
This has given rise to charges from
Arafat that Syria has launched a
major offensive throughout Lebanon.
Although leftist and Palestinian
spokesmen have taken a defiant
line in public statements, the two
--continued
1
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ARAB STATES: Syria,
Jordan, and, to a lesser
extent, Egypt are feel-
ing the pinch of re-
duced financial support
from Persian Gulf donor
states. Saudi Arabia--
with Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates
going along--has with-
held war subsidy pay-
ments in recent months
and has avoided major
new aid commitments in
an effort to make the
recipients shape up fi-
nancially and settle
their political differ-
ences.
groups generally have avoided a
showdown with Syrian forces in
eastern Lebanon. The formation
Friday of a Palestinian-leftist
command, excluding Syrian-con-
trolled Saiga units, may strengthen
somewhat the de facto coordination
that previously has existed among
these groups.
aircraft conducted ground at-
tacks yesterday against leftist
positions in the Baydar area east25X1
of Beirut. There are conflicting
reports concerning the nationality
of the aircraft. Although the air-
field from which they took off is
in Syrian hands, the aircraft
probably were Lebanese.
Syria has suffered the largest
drop in assistance. Last year Da-
mascus received approximately $800
million in Arab aid. So far this
year, Syrian aid receipts from
Arab countries have totaled only
$42 million.
Both Syria and Jordan have pro-
ceeded with ambitious spending
plans based on expected Arab cash
transfers, but they may soon be
forced to scale down expenditures
or to dig into foreign exchange
reserves.
Egypt, although the beneficiary of
sizable Arab aid early this year,
must find additional funds to fill
a $1-billion payments gap; Cairo
is counting on other aid sources,
such as the International Monetary
Fund and the major industrial coun-
tries, to make ends meet.
Thus far there is no sign of new
Arab commitments. The Saudis are
increasingly reluctant to provide
2
--continued
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EGYPT-SYRIA: The Egyp-
tian government's deci-
sion on Saturday to
close the Syrian embassy
in Cairo and its own
embassy in Damascus
will have little prac-
tical effect. There
has been almost no
official contact be-
tween the two countries
since October.
INDIA-USSR: Prime Min-
ister Indira Gandhi's
five-day visit to the
USSR, which starts to-
morrow, probably is
viewed by both sides
mainly as an opportu-
nity to demonstrate
their continued close
ties.
large-scale handouts over which
they have no control. A growing
number of high-level officials are
complaining that many recipients
not only misuse Saudi assistance
but treat it as a perpetual eco-
nomic subsidy. Kuwait and other
wealthy Gulf states are following
the Saudi lead.
A severe economic crisis in any of
the aid recipients probably would
loosen the moneybags of Saudi Ara-
bia and other Gulf states. Realiz-
ing this, Jordan and Syria can be
expected to dramatize their prob-
lems in an effort to elicit more
assistance.
The move, however, will further
complicate the Saudi-Kuwaiti ef-
fort to reconcile Egypt and Syria.
At the time of the Egyptian an-
nouncement, the Saudi and Kuwaiti
foreign ministers were in Damascus
trying again to arrange a meeting
of the Egyptian and Syrian prime
ministers.
Syria is not yet prepared to close
the door completely on the media-
tion attempt because of the finan-
cial leverage that Saudi Arabia is
bringing to bear against Damascus.
At the same time, however, the
Syrians are being enticed with of-
fers of aid from Libya to join in
a bloc of radical Arab states.
Gandhi considers India's relation-
ship with Moscow is "special."
She has long been partial to the
USSR and favored socialist economic
development over Western capital-
ism. Moscow's generous press sup-
3
--continued
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port for Gandhi's domestic actions
has helped keep the Soviets high
in her esteem.
The Soviets have provided India
with large amounts of military and
economic assistance, though less
than half the amount India received
from the US. India, however, is
now paying out more in aid and
debt credits to the USSR than it
is receiving in new commitments.
Indian officials are under pres-
sure to obtain more advantageous
terms from Moscow.
Soviet leaders may register some
concern over the more conservative
trend in Indian economic policy
during the past year. This trend
reduces somewhat the publicity po-
tential for showy Soviet projects
that are concentrated in heavy in-
dustry.
The Soviets are likely to seek
some assurance that Gandhi's recent
decision to upgrade relations with
Peking does not signify a shift
away from Moscow. They are un-
likely, however, to persuade Gandhi
to reverse her refusal to meet
their requests for permanent re-
pair and supply facilities in In-
dian ports for Soviet naval vessels
Another topic that probably will
come up is assistance for India's
nuclear program. The USSR is now
the most likely source of heavy
water needed for India's reactor
program. It is uncertain, how-
ever, whether Moscow will be will-
ing to supply heavy water in the
face of New Delhi's insistence on
its right to conduct additional
nuclear tests.
4
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