THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 APRIL 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007725
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: April 17, 1974

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012000010059-9
The President's Daily Brief
April 17, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5130
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
April 17, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Page
Israel
Syrian officials reportedly are worried that the.Is-
raeli cabinet .crisis will delay conclusion of a dis-
engagement accord. (Page 2)
Nationalist China has threatened to close Taiwan's
air space to Japanese civil flights if Tokyo signs
a civil air agreement with_Peking. (Page. 3)
No details are yet available on the accord announced
yesterday for the sale of Mirage F-1 jets to Kuwait,
but previous, reporting indicates that the Kuwaitis
wanted at least 16 of these planes.' (Page 4)
Notes on USSR?Indian Ocean and.Iraq appear on
Page 5.
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ISRAEL
Israel and Syria yesterday continued to exchange
tank and artillery fire on the Syrian front, but at
a level substantially lower than over the past week-
end. Israeli aircraft flew reconnaissance missions,
and defensive patrols over the Golan Heights. Damas-
cus.claimed that fighting was continuing on Mount
Hermon.
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SYRIA-ISRAEL
Officials in Damascus are worrying that the Is-
raeli cabinet crisis will delay conclusion of a dis-
engagement accord.
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NATIONALIST CHINA - JAPAN
Nationalist Chinese Premier Chiang Ching-kuo
has threatened to close Taiwan's air space to Japa-
nese civil flights if Tokyo signs an agreement for
airline links with Peking. The Nationalist Air
Force has been placed on alert and instructed to be
prepared to intercept--but not to shoot down--Japanese
planes, if such a treaty is signed.
Premier Chiang long ago wrote off Japanese Prime
Minister Tanaka as too pro-Peking. Chiang, encour-
aged by anti-Tanaka right-wingers in Japan's Liberal
Democratic Party, now appears to be gambling that the
Tanaka government will be forced to suspend the ne-
gotiations or perhaps resign. Such an estimate over-
states both Nationalist China's influence in Japan
and the strength of the Liberal Democratic Party's
right wing. The affair is, however, increasing anti-
Japanese feeling on Taiwan and will make compromise
difficult.
Tanaka, for his part, is not likely to change
his course. He plans signature of the agreement
within about a week, and its prompt submission to
the Diet for ratification, which seems assured. It
does not appear that key factional leaders in the
Liberal Democratic Party will use the issue to chal-
lenge Tanaka's leadership.
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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KUWAIT FRANCE
No details are yet available on the accord an-
nounced yesterday for the sale of Mirage F-1 jets to
Kuwait, previous reporting indicates that the
Kuwaitis wanted at least 16 of these planes.
The French aircraft may have been selected over
competing US F-5? and A-7 planes because Paris at-
tached no restrictions on its use. The Kuwaitis do
not want to open themselves to the charge that they
have bought arms that cannot be used to help other
Arabs against countries like Israel or Iran. Kuwait
is still interested in procuring the Franco-British
Jaguar aircraft because of its ground support capa-
bility. Deliveries of the Mirages are probably at
least a year away because of the need to train Ku-
waiti pilots.
Kuwait is the first Persian Gulf country to buy
the Mirage F-1, although Paris has sold other Mirage
aircraft to Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. In addition
to the F-ls, Paris sold helicopters to Kuwait in Feb-
ruary and ground forces equipment several years ago
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V-Class Submariner
Soviet Submarines
? Leave
the
Indian Ocean
C-Class Submarine
555681 4-74 CIA
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NOTES
USSR - Indian Ocean: Two Soviet nuclear-powered
submarines that have been in the Indian Ocean since
late February are being transferred from the Soviet
Northern Fleet to the Pacific Fleet. The submarines--
a C-class cruise-missile unit and a V-class torpedo-
attack boat--are about to pass through the Strait of
Malacca and will be the first submarines of their
classes to be assigned to the Pacific Fleet. While
in the Indian Ocean, the submarines conducted opera-
tions in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The
C-class apparently trailed the US carrier Kitty. Hawk
for about a week in the Arabian Sea.
Iraq: The tempo of fighting between the Kurds
and the government is gradually accelerating. Commu-
nist diplomats in Baghdad, who support the government's
position, predict that an offensive will be launched
in late April. As many as 65,000 government troops
may already be in the north. Baghdad is sending re-
inforcements and has even begun calling up reserves.
Rumors in Baghdad of US material support for the Kurds
could lead to trouble for American interests in Iraq.
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Top Secret
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