LETTER OF INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260014-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: October 31, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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31 October 1966
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Bureau Chiefs
SUBJECT: Letter of Information
GE1TERAL
1. African Bureau Situation: During October the African Bureau continued
to operate despite the curfew and the absence of one-third of its African staff.
Communications improved, but a prolonged outage of the landline between the
Embassy and NECOM in Lagos required handcarrying of tapes and caused some traffic
delays. The morale of the American staff remained high despite restricted liviag
and social conditions, the ever-present threat of further violence, and the
increasing burden of keeping the bureau functioning without a full African
complement.
Following the mass slayings of Ibos throughout the North, and particularly
in Kano, the weekend of 1-2 October, the regional and federal governments organite,?.
air and rail evacuation of Easterners to their home region, and the Eastern Region
Government did the same for northern Hausas living in the East.
Headquarters, after consultations with'the'Ztate Department,.asked-the
U.S. Embassy in Accra if it would agree to support an FBIS fallback operation
in Accra if Kaduna becomes untenable. A reply is awaited. (SECRET)
2. SpAgpn Situation: Viet Cong terrorist activity after the elections
was limited to a few minor incidents in the Saigon area. A routine curfew
from 2300 to 0400 was in effect at the end of September: (CONFIDENTIAL)
3. Mediterranean Bureau Developments: In general, Cyprus remained calm
and the rotation of the Turkish military contingent went off smoothly.
The Director of the GOC Public Information Office, Miltiades Christodoulou.
visited the bureau in mid-September and was briefed on its operations. After the
briefing, Mr. Christodoulou appeared to be satisfied that the bureau was impartial
in its selection, and seemed to understand the reasons for filing anti-Greek
material, (CONFIDENTIAL)
Group 1
Excluded from automatic down-
grading and declassification
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SUBJECT: Letter of Informations 31 October 1966
4, Caribbean Bureau: Because of flooding in three areas, the Caribbean
Erre/tuts evening shiec was unable to reach the operations site on 13 October.
The bureau resumed normal operations the next morning. East Coast Bureau
provided backstop coverage of Brazilian broadcasts while the Caribbean Bureau
was closed. At present there is little prospect that the construction
contract, which is now about 13 percent complete, will be met in the allotted
365 days. However, construction is at a point wherelmore rapid progress is
anticipated. Negotiations for 275 acres of land needed to complete the
bureau site continues (CONFIDENTIAL)
5. Bloc Reaction to 2PR: In response to active consumer interest in
fullest possible details of communist bloc reactions to events in Communist
China and any indications in bloc propaganda of how fur individual countries
are willing to go in formalizing the break with the Chinese, the Austrian
Bureau is providing weekly logs of European communist Drees treatment of
Chinese events and?with the German Brreau--maintaining a close watch on the
press for relevant comment to supplement radio coverage. Austrian Bureau
FYI's on Albanian treatment of the Chinese "cultural revolution" enabled RPD
to document for interested consumers the cautious reaction from Tirana,
caught between a need to reaffirm its alliance with Peking and apparent
misgivings over the excesses in the CPR. (CONFIDENTIAL)
6. Research and Analysis Services: Queries addressed to RPD from State
Department and Agency offices continued to focus on Vietnam, the Chinese
"cultural revolution," and Sino-Soviet relations. In addition, Agency ?
researchers drew on the War Themes files in preparing a briefing for NASA
Administrator Webb, and examined the file of Latin American communist leaders'
speeches for their views on the nuclear test ban treaty. Other requesters
included the Arno Control and Disarmament Agency, which was assisted in
locating and identifying a MD.:oyan statement in August 1957 on Arctic inspection.
(CONFIDENTIAL)
7. Ellpplepents and Reports: A special reaction report on President
Johnson's 7 October speech to the National Conference of Editorial Writers
was prepared at the request of the White House and distributed to recipients
of the Wire Service and the FBIS Bulletin. The text of North Korean party
leader Kim Il-song's 5 October report to a Korean Workers Party conference
was published as a Far East Daily Report Supplement on 12 October. First
Vice Premier Kim Ills 10 October report to the conference was published on
17 October. Excerpts from the politburo report to the 13th SED Central
Committee Plenum by SED Central Committee Secretary Guenter Mittag,
translated from the East German press, were issued as a Daily Report
supplement on 23 September. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 31 October 1966
8. Lin Piao Article: The Lin Piao article "Long Live the Victory of
People's War," originally published in the Daily Report in September 1965,
was recently republished by the Government Printing Office for public sale.
The first printing totaled 5,000 copies. Copies will be sent to bureaus
likely to find them useful for reference. (UNCLASSIFIED)
9. Speci21 Services: During President .Johnson's Far East tour, 17
October to 2 November, FBIS bureaus are wirefiling to the U.S. mission at
each of his stops significant comment and reportage from the USSR and Asian
commnist sources. During the sane period the FBIS Bulletin is being
tailored to serve as a briefing aid for U.S. missions in the countries
visited.
In response to great consumer interest, FBIS arranged special
coverage of the recent Warsaw Pact maneuvers. The German Bureau on
25 September monitored an Intervision relay, via GDR television, of the
peace rally and military parade in Ceske Budejowice marking the end
of the maneuvers. The bureau also supplied to Headquarters, for OCR
Graphics and two other consumers co ies of 140 still pi t
the event.
videotapes of the parade and a 4 October
documentary. The London, Austrian, and German bureaus filed all
material on the maneuvers to DCSI USAREUR, Heidelberg, which was
"highly pleased" with the service.
Key West Bureau is supplying selected Havana newsreel material for
ccssible use by the USIA Motion Picture and Television Service. The bureau
also sent to OCR Graphics Havana television newsreel shots of the bombs
reportedly dropped on the Nuevitas powerplant in Camaguey Province 29 September
by a "pirate" aircraft.
At USIA's request, a four-week sample of Moscow Mandarin and a
two-week sample of Moscow Amharic program summaries were provided by Tokyo
and London bureaus respectively. The West Coast Bureau provided for an
Agency component a recording of three songs frequently heard on Peking Radio
on the topic of the Red Guards and Mao Tse-tung.
Upon an Agency component's request, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, '
which is now monitoring selected Moscow, Peking, Havana, and Prague broadcasts
to Latin America, was given a general description of the FBIS operation.
Brazil's interest apparently stens from Moscow radio's "Peace and Progress"
programs, tapes of which were supplied previously by the London Bureau for
ultimate use by the Brazilian Government.
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 31 OCtober 1966
At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Mediterranean Bureau
surveyed broadcasts by the clandestine Radio Peyk-e Iran for eight days in
connection with the Shah of Iran's tour of three East European countries in
September. An Agency consumer also received the material. (SECRET)
10. Lateral Services: With the addition of programs from Brazil, Haiti,
and Guyana to its regular coverage, the Caribbean Bureau amended its lateral
services to conform with the complete list issued by the Liaison and
Requirements Staff in September. An additional consumer of reports on U.S._
aircraft downed in Vietnam, 8th TFW at Ubon AFB in Thailand, is being
serviced by the Okinawa Bureau. The German Bureau recently added the USAREUR
News and Pictorial Service, Berlin, to its list of recipients of the Weekly
Report on the East German Press. (CONFIDENTIAL)
11. Use of FBIS Materials: The importance of FBIS material to the White
House was repeatedly stressed during a recent visit to the Situation Room by
Editorial Division personnel. FBIS' role in the Cuban missile crisis was
cited in this connection, and it was stated that FBIS more often than not is
the first to report significant foreign news breaks, following up with
in-depth coverage of a developing situation.
Saigon Bureau serviced an unusually large number of requests from
local consumers prompted by such events as the Constituent Assembly elections,
the convening of the Assembly, President De Gaulle's Phnom Penh visit, and
Ambassador Goldberg's U.N. speech. Some 40 cables issued by the Embassy
Political Section in past weeks were based on FBIS monitoring.
Twelve percent of the items appearing in the OCI Digest during
September were based wholly or in part on FBIS -monitored material.
The DD/I and the Director of Intelligence Support for the DD/I,
visited the London Bureau on 26 and 17 September respectively.. The DIS
also visited the German and Austrian Bureaus later in the Month.
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 31 October 1966
The Chief, Wire Services Branch, and the Projects Editor visited
the White House Situation Room on 7 October and were briefed by staff
officers. (CONFIDENTIAL)
13. Field Inspection Trip: The Deputy Director, FBIS, visited the
Caribbean-, Panama, and Key West Bureaus 10-26 September. (FOR OFFICIAL
USE ONLY)
14. Training: The Chief, Editorial Division, attended the IBM Intelligence
Executive Seminar on computer technic:ties 10-14 October at Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Assistant Executive Officer is attending the Mid-Career
Executive Development Course. Seven FBIS officers have participated in the
course to date. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
15. Possible ADP Application: FBIS received a formal proposal, prepared
by the Office of Computer Services, for alternative computer based systems
for preparation of the Daily Report. The study concluded that a computer-
based systeM is technically feasible, but could not be implemented for about
two years for lack of the necessary hardware. The proposal is under review.
(CONFIDENTIAL)
FIELD OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING
16. Tokyo TV Monitoring: During September the Tokyo Bureau discontinued
its temporary cruising.of television film materials ana selected five programs
which will be watched daily for films of communist countries. Documentaries,
propaganda films, travelogs, and other special features will continue to be
covered as they appear. (CONFIDENTIAL)
17. Hong Kong Communications: Wirefiling of Chinese regional radio
material produced by the BBC's Hong Kong unit is expected to begin in
November, after a teletypist hired by the American Consulate reports for
duty and receives training. The Hong Kong file will be sent to the Okinawa
Bureau and FBIS Headquarters. (SECRET)
18. Broadcasting Developments: The clandestine "Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan,"
which was first heard on 10 September 1965, ceased broadcasting recently after
one year of anti-Iraqi Government broadcasts. Baghdad radio and Cairo NENA
announced on 4 October that Kurdish leader Mustafa al-Barzani advised the
Iraqi Defense Minister that "the Kurdish secret broadcasting station has
stopped transmitting."
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 31 October 1966
Additional half-hour Moscow broadcasts in Mandarin, previously
announced but not heard, were recently observed between 0000 and 0100 GMT.
Moscow radio's broadcasts in Mandarin now total 77 hours a week.
Pyongyang radio introduced two daily 30-minute programs in Indonesian
at the end of September, displacing a one-hour broadcast in Mandarin.
Tirana radio recently began broadcasting in Czech and Polish for
the first time. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
ADMINISTRATION
19. Credit Union Loan Insurance: Effective 1 September 1966 the Credit
Union instituted a loan insurance coverage program at no expense to the
borrower. All outstanding loans and neW loans will be insured for the amount
of the unpaid balance up to $5,000. The Credit Union is the beneficiary of
the loan insurance so that, in the'event of the death of the borrower, the
loan is automatically paid off up to the $5,000 limit. (ADMINISTRATIVE-
INTERNAL USE ONLY)
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SUBJECT: Letter-of Information, 31 October 1966
EDITORIAL
1. Translation and Edit; The attention of editors and monitors is
directed to paragraph D, page I 11 of the Editorial Handbook, which states
in part: In editing translated copy the field editor should make certain
that the version to be wirefiled is couched in clear idiomatic English without
ambiguities other than those inherent in the original. If ambiguities and
unclear passages cannot be rendered satisfactorily in translation, an editor's
note to this effect should be provided, In translations, English words are
used to convey ideas contained in the original language. The translator, with
the editor backstopping him when necessary, should use the appropriate idiomatic
English to convey these ideas and should not be overly concerned at not being
able to find a-matching English word for each word in the vernacular. A good
translation will sound as if it were originally written in English. In
keeping with the initial premise that ideas rather than words are translated
from one language to another, any steps necesaary to insure the clarity of a
translation are legitimate provided that no idea is added which is not
inherent in the original.
PERSONNEL
2.. New &St=
ament
Typist, MOS, Field Operations Staff
Librarian, Reference Library, Editorial Division
Editor, USSR & EE Branch, Editorial Division
Typist, Publications Branch, Editorial Division
Editor, ME/AF/WE/LA Branch, Editorial Division
Teletypist, Wire Service Branch, Editorial
Division
Typist, Publications Branch, Editorial Division
3. Reassignments From
Chief,
West Coast Bureau
Editor
Okinawa Bureau
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To
Chief
Caribbean Bureau
Editor, Far East Branch,
Editorial Division
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-mar Nsw
SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 31 October 1966
3.
4.
lleassignments (Cont'd)
From
To
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Chief
Chief
Executive Staff
Mediterranean Bureau
Chief
Chief
London Bureau
Okinawa Bureau
Senior Editor
African Bureau
Chief, Far East Branch,
Editorial Division
Monitor
Monitor
East Coast Bureau
Caribbean Bureau
Editor.
Editor
Editorial Division
Okinawa Bureau
Chief
Chief
Okinawa Bureau
London Bureau
. Editor
Editorial Division
Analyst, World Communism Brau.:;,
Radio Propaganda Division
Separation
From
Analyst, Radio Propaganda Division
5, Temporar_Dutinat
en route from West Coast Bureau to Caribbean Bureau
- orientation while on home leave from London
cting D rector
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
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