THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 25 SEPTEMBER 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977700
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 25, 1970

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The President's Daily Brief
25 September 1970
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
25 September 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
.The situation in Jordan is discussed on Page 1.
In Cambodia, the Communists evidently are making
gains in organizing the countryside. (Page 3)
North Vietna
(Page 5)
Laos.
We discuss a Soviet paper on Berlin on Page 6.
Our comment on the Soviet lunar mission appears on
Page 7.
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JORDAN: Current Situation
Haifa
GOLAN HEIGHTS
I.c.tko I?
(Israeli-occupied)
11
Tiberias /
/2Tel Aviv: 1%.
Yafo
Ramla\
???
ooN
? 'WEST28ANK ?
(Isrcieli ? occupied)
Ram
Allah.
?
JeriOho.
J rusal.em
Armistice Line /
'Bethlehem
/ -
eersheba
.Hebron '?, ?
.00
ISRAEL ,
.Dimona
10
MILES
20
SYRIA
"Saturation shelling'
Jordanian .4rtillery ? \
?
z
Jordanian N.
infantry 1.1-litSn
0 brigades1..
Ira& qs. JO,rdanian
Kititn? '40th tank brigade
zt,
,YMafraq
Ajtun
iJarash
/ ?
J OR D N
Dead
Sea
?
/
?
Salt
441111...?-
"Suwaylih
?
,Dhiban
SKarak
A\ ?
Ramiha
Zarqa ? ?
MMAN
550104 9-70 CIA
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JORDAN
The Jordanian Army evidently is steadily ad-
vancing against fedayeen strongholds in the north.
One of the Syrian brigades which pulled
out of Jordan earlier in the week has now
left the border area. This suggests that
the Syrians probably have no immediate
plans to return.
Severe fighting continues in Amman, where the
army opened up with artillery, tanks, and machine
guns in the northeast sector v7sterday morning,
and the commandos
replied by shellina the royal palacpq
Farther south, the government seems to be in
good shape. Commandos have been forced out of Karak
near the Dead Sea
King Husayn faces some political embarrassment
in the resignation yesterday of his prime minister,
Brigadier General Daud. In a statement to the press
in Cairo where he was attending the Arab summit con-
ference, Daud, a Palestinian, said his government
was being held responsible for something it had
nothing to do with--clearly a reference to the show-
down with the fedayeen. He added that he wanted to
make room for a national civilian cabinet able to
restore peace. Husayn accepted the resignation,
according to Amman radio, but asked the cabinet to
remain in office until a new government is formed.
In a meeting with US Ambassador Brown earlier
in the day, Husayn expressed optimism over the dis-
array of the fedayeen. He expressed the belief that
the fedayeen central committee no longer exists, with
all its significant members dead, captured, or out
of business. Yasir Arafat, he claimed, is finished.
Husayn said the extent of fedayeen penetration of
his government had taken him by surprise. His own
chef, for example, was believed to have been a high
fedayeen official, and his driver a fedayeen major.
(continued)
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A second Arab peace mission flew from Cairo to
Amman late yesterday, apparently in response to an
appeal from an emergency meeting of commando leaders
in Damascus for a 24-hour cease-fire. Fifteen dele-
gates representing all major fedayeen bodies attended
the Damascus meeting, according to Cairo's semioffi-
cial newspaper Al Ahram. This latest peace mission
was again headed by Sudanese President Numayri, and
included Egyptian, Tunisian, Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian,
and Palestine Liberation Organization central com-
mittee representatives.
Despite increasing pres-sure from other
Arab leaders to end the bloodshed, Husayn
now seems to have no iYitention of stopping
until the fedayeen agree to settle on his
terms. He is in no mood to compromise and
vitiate the heavy price he has already
paid, even if he were able to rein in the
army. The embittered fedayeen, for their
part, probably realize that to accept the
King's conditions would spell the end of
their movement in Jordan. Thus any agree-
ment on paper resulting from concerted ef-
forts by Nasir and other Arab leaders would
almost certainly prove no more than a
short-lived stopgap.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Pales-
tine reported to the Red Cross yesterday that the
hijacking hostages were in good health, well treated,
and safe from the fighting. King Husayn told Am-
bassador Brown that he is prepared to consider
trading high-ranking fedayeen for the hostages, al-
though he thinks the commandos may not be willing
to do this.
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CAMBODIA
In
Kompong Speu Province the Communists apparently have
made propaganda and recruiting gains since early
August by capitalizing on the population's antago-
nism toward South Vietnamese troops.
In nearby Kampot Province, Cambodian Army troops
,in one key district are said to have reached an un-
derstanding with the Communists, allowing them con-
siderable freedom of movement in return for their
agreement not to attack the district capital. Large
areas of the province are under Communist control.
In Kompong Cham Province, the Communists are reported
to have established two military training camps for
Cambodian recruits. A Viet Cong defector claims
that after a training period of three to six months
the trainees are assigned to existing Cambodian Com-
munist forces at the province and district level.
Government officials, although increasingly
aware of Communist activities of this sort,
are still preoccupied with protecting the
country's urban areas, particularly Phnom
Penh. In addition, the government's civil
action program for rural areas is barely
under way, and it probably will be some
time before it registers any real results.
The Communists, for their part, still have
substantial problems to overcome before
they have a reliable organization in the
countryside to support their military ef-
fort.
On the military front, Communist resistance has
again stalled the government's advance along Route 6
toward Tang Kouk village. Enemy opposition does not
appear, as great as press accounts suggest, but the
Cambodians yesterday replaced two battalions after
suffering five killed and 77 wounded. Air strikes
were to support yet ano)ther government move on the
village yesterday.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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LAOS
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USSR-BERLIN
The Soviets have presented their first
written proposal on Berlin following the
agreement between Ambassadors Abrasimov
and Rush early this month to compare notes. ,
The paper makes some ostensible concessions
to the Allied interest in gaining improve-
ments in access to and movement within
Berlin, but still does not accept this as
an acceptable subject for four-power ne-
gotiations.
Instead, the proposal states that "under an
understanding between the USSR and GDR" certain un-
specified measures will be taken to facilitate
visits of West Berliners to "the territory of the
GDR" and that there will be as "uninterrupted an
implementation as possible of the necessary peace-
ful ties between West Berlin and foreign countries."
In return, the Soviets ask that the three West-
ern powers agree to prevent "third countries"--
meaning the West Germans--from doing anything in
West Berlin which would affect the "legitimate rights
and interest" of others or "complicate" the situa-
tion in West Berlin. The proposal indicates that a
long list of "impermissible" West German activities
relating to Berlin initially submitted by Abrasimov
last June remains valid.
The Soviets did not directly address them-
selves to the Allied proposal that the
East acknowledge Bonn's right to represent
the interests of West Berlin in dealing
with other countries. However, there is
still no give in Moscow's insistence that
West Berlin is an independent entity.
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NOTES
USSR:
recovery of Luna-16 yesterday went smoothly and the
space capsule carrying lunar soil samples was found
promptly in Soviet central Asia after landing by
parachute. According to a TASS announcement, an
electric drill gathered the samples in the Sea of
Fertility at depths of up to 14 inches. The amount
of lunar soil brou ht back is unknown
The pattern of
movement of Soviet space event support ships suggests
that another lunar mission, possibly a circumlunar
probe, may be attempted during October.
USSR-Italy/
(continued)
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Yugoslavia: In recent speeches, Tito and Pre-
mier Ribicic have expressed serious concern over the
crisis in Jordan. Both warned against any outside
intervention in Jordan, and Ribicic had particularly
harsh words for the fedayeen extremists whose "thought-
less and adventuristic air hijackings" precipitated
the crisis. Tito urges a political settlement for
several reasons, including his long friendship with
Nasir, his support of the Arab cause, and concern
that Yugoslavia might somehow be drawn into a clash
between the superpowers.
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