NEAR EAST/AFRICA BRANCH INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY FOR WEEK ENDING 25 AUGUST 1948 VOL. III NO. 33

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2013
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: August 25, 1948
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/22 : CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1
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NEAR EAST/AFRICA BRANCH
INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY
For Week Ending
25 August 1948
VOL III No.33
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/22 : CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/22 : CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1
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NEAR EAST/AFRICA BRANCH
INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY
For Week Ending
25 August 1948
GREECE
Vol. III No.33
The guerrilla-held territory in the Grammos area has now been reduced
to a prcreirg tliaibinntiran so small as to be of little military
significance, but the forces remaining in this pocket continue to resist
Greek Army attacks in an effort to keep alive the idea of a 'free' Greece.
The majority of the guerrillas have presumably escaped into Albania, and
it is apparent that, contrary to previous rumors, Albania (along with
Bulgaria and Yugoslavia) is still giving at least passive aid to the rebels.
Although the northern neighbors are not expected to supply aid sufficient
to turn the tide of battle or to make good guerrilla losses, they will--in
the absence of effective UN action?continue to furnish some measure of
military assistance to the guerrillas until the Greek Communist Party
launches its campaign of political subversion in Greece. Meanwhile, the
Greek Army, acting with unaccustomed vigor, is already following up the
Grammos successes by moving against those areas threatened with guerrilla
re-infiltration from the neighboring countries.
The call for withdrawal of theLtherals from Greece's two-pasty
coalition government which was recently issued by Venizelos, the Liberal
second-in-command, probably foreshadows the eventual fall of the coali-
tion. Prime Minister Sophoulls, who heads the Liberal Party, promptly
answered the Venizelos statement by flatly expressing his conviction
that the coalition must be preserved. It is nevertheless problematical
how long he will be able to keep Venizelos and his followers in line.
As the internal security of the country improves, the malcontents will
feel more and more free to agitate for a change and they will eventually
force a showdown. Actually, the Liberals, as the minority, would have
little to gain by definitely leaving the government, since the Populist
_SEpertar
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/22 : CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/22 : CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1
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2.
majority has every legal right to form a one-party government without
them. The Venizelos agitation is probably based on the belief that the
US considers the coalition sacred and would therefore force the Populists
to make concessions to the Liberals in order to preserve joint two-party
control.
PALESTINE
The UN truce appears to have been strengthened by the Security Council's
recarak warning to both Yews and Arabs to cease truce violations watther
committed by regular or irregular forces. Although there is no evidence
that the Jews have abandoned their claim to Jerusalem, the SC warning
has apparently checked their military aggressiveness--at least for the
time being. The Arabs, however, remain suspicious of Jewish intentions
as well as of the role of the Western powers in the Middle East, and there
are indications that some of the Arab states may be considering a rapproche-
ment with the USSR. David Soled, the Soviet Minister to Syria and Lebanon
and reputedly the USSR's top man in the Arab states, is said to have en-
gaged in several lengthy meetings with Syrian political leaders. His recent
return to Moscow has given rise to speculation that he may recommend
a complete 'overhauling' of Soviet policy toward the Middle East. The
Syrian Government is allegedly consulting the Kremlin on what reward
the Arab states may expect if they place themselves within the Soviet
orbit, and Communists in Iraq and Lebanon are reported to be advocating
closer Arab-Soviet ties.
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/22 : CIA-RDP78-01617A004700010017-1