CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/11/03

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03178396
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: November 3, 1957

V AApproved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03178396,
3 November
1957
Copy No.
1,3c
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
R E T
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
0
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CONTENTS
1. USSR LAUNCHES SECOND SATELLITE
(page 3).
2. FURTHER REPORTS ON ZHUKOWS OUSTER
(page 4).
3. SOUTH ASIA MAY REQUEST OVER 2.000,000 TONS OF US
EMERGENCY FOOD AID (page 6).
4. SYRIAN ANTI-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN
(page 7).
5. FRENCH PUBLIC'S COMPLACENCY MAY PROLONG CRISIS
(page 8).
6. MALAYAN LEADERS PLAN ALL-OUT EFFORT TO SUPPRESS
COMMUNIST SUBVERSION (page 9).
7. SUDAN TO CUT COTTON PRICES
(page 10).
8. BRITAIN FACES INDUSTRIAL STRIFE THIS WINTER
(page 11).
3 Nov 57
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1. USSR LAUNCHES SECOND SATELLITE
Comment on:
Moscow radio announced on 3 No-
vember the successful launching of
a second earth satellite, apparently
again after completion of at least one
complete orbit. The official announcement stated that the
new satellite weighs about 1,120 pounds, is some 930 miles
above the earth at the farthest point in its orbit, and is car-
rying a live dog and instrumentation for transmitting data.
The new satellite is circling the globe abOut every hour and
42 minutes and has been noted transmitting on 20- and 40-
megacycle frequencies like its predecessor.
The reported weight of the second sat-
ellite is by far its most significant military characteristic
because of the propulsion capability required to place such
a weight in orbit. Preliminary assessment indicates that
such a rocket-launching system, if used in an ICBM, would
be at least capable of delivering a 2,000-pound warhead a
distance of 5,500 nautical miles.
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2. FURTHER REPORTS ON ZHUKONPS OUSTER
Information on the events leading up to
Marshal Zhukovts purge from the Soviet
party presidium and central committee
On 19 October, while Zhukov was still
in Albania, the party central committee issued a secret
letter entitled "Improvement of Party-Political Work in the
Soviet Armed Forces," he letter,
which was widely discus.. �litary or-
ganizations, charged that party-political work in the armed
forces had fallen behind in recent years, the political appara-
tus had been shoved aside, and commanders had not properly
evaluated political work in the army. The basic blame was
placed on the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, although
Zhukov was not named specifically.
the letter directed that the Chief Political Directorate of the
Armed Forces be included on the "Supreme Military Council"
of the Ministry of Defense.
The party presidium is said to have de-
cided on 22 October to oust Zhukov as defense minister. On
24 and 25 October, Khru-
shchev explained the decision to party meetings of the Moscow
Military District by charging Marshal Zhukov with overvaluing
the role of one-man command in the armed forces, with con-
tinually petitioning for the removal of Colonel General Zheltov
as head of the Chief Political Directorate of the Ministry of
Defense, with failing to inform the central committee regularly
as to his activities, and with refusing to allow his subordinates
to contact the central committee directly.
Khrushchev also
charged Zhukov with recommending that Serov be replaced as
head of the secret police by a military man. Khrushchev also
3 Nov 57
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Neasf
asserted that Marshal Rokossovsky had been posted to the
Transcaucasian Military District as a move to exert pres-
sure on Turkey.
, the Khru�
-
shchev-led group of "moderates" in the central committee
was opposed on the extent of the purge by a group of extrem-
ists led by Party Secretary Nikolai Belyayev, who had been
put on the party presidium by Khrushchev.
Belyayev, although little known outside the party, was
considered a rising star, and in his view would be Khrushchev's
eventual successor.
Comment
Zhukoves ouster tend to
confirm that the confidential explanation
within artv circles
provide additional specific detail on how
the ouster was accomplished.
There has been incon-
clusive evidence of differences between Zhukov and Khrushchev
over political control in the army, leadership of the secret po-
lice, and Middle East policies.
3 Nov 57
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3. SOUTH ASIA MAY REQUEST OVER 2,000,000 TONS OF
US EMERGENCY FOOD AID
Comment on:
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal
are seeking emergency food-grain assist-
ance from the United States which may
eventually total over 2,000,000 tons. Se-
rious food shortages, caused by adverse
weather conditions, exist in these coun-
tries as well as in Ceylon, which may also
soon seek similar aid.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have already re-
quested 100,000 and 40,000 tons, respectively, of US emer-
gency wheat shipments, and Nepal has indicated its desire
for similar assistance. The Indian Food and Agriculture Min-
istry estimates that drought in North India will require im-
ports of 2,000,000 tons of food grains over and above present
stocks of 1,000,000 tons and previously planned purchases of
1,500,000 tons.
Ceylon, which is suffering drought for the
third successive year in some areas, is to be supplied by
Communist China with 70,000 fewer tons of rice annually un-
der its new five-year rice-rubber agreement than under the
one expiring at the end of 1957. It may also seek food aid in
the future.
Australia, normally an exporter of wheat,
is itself suffering a drought and will not have any export sup-
plies. Burmese and Thai rice supplies are apparently normal,
but are already committed under earlier contracts. Ceylon,
which has just concluded an agreement with Burma for the pur-
chase of 200,000 tons, may have trouble increasing the amount
if needed. Canada has announced that it will help ease India's
food crisis with 100,000 tons of wheat offered under the Colombo
Plan.
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4. SYRIAN ANTI-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN
Comment on:
While the Syrians have withdrawn their
request for a UN resolution on the Turk-
ish threat to Syria, Damascus has stepped
up "defense preparations" and harass-
ment of American nationals. The public
is being kept in a state of tension by in-
creased "popular resistance" training,
the digging of trenches around Aleppo and
Damascus, and the alerting of doctors for
civil defense. Bombastic speeches by President Quwatli and
Chief of Staff Bizri, as well as Communist-inspired anti-Amer-
ican rallies throughout the country, have marked Syria% "Na-
tional Fortification Week."
Accompanying these public manifestations
has been a campaign of harassment of Americar nationals and
local employees of the embassy and consulates.
The American embassy comments that nu-
merous previous protests against harassment of embassy per-
sonnel have been ineffective, largely because civilians in the
Foreign Ministry are unwilling to take strong exception to army
actions.
3 Nov 57
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5. FRENCH PUBLIC'S COMPLACENCY MAY PROLONG CRISIS
Comment on:
The French public seems almost entirely
unaware of the implications of France's
political-economic-financial crisis, and
British officials in Paris believe it will
take a real shock to change this attitude. The American em-
bassy points out that, because of postwar foreign economic
aid, the French parliament and public had been shielded from
the first-hand experience necessary to achieve external eco-
nomic balance. Foreign economic aid is virtually exhausted,
and military aid is beginning to dwindle.
In view of this attitude, the National Assem-
bly deputies are unlikely to return to Paris from the long holiday
week end in their home districts under any urgent compulsion to
install a new government on the terms Premier-designate Felix
Gaillard seems to have in mind. Gaillard has hopes of backing
up a request for a foreign loan by evidence that the French
themselves are making an effort by accepting new taxes and
drastic cuts in government spending.
The American embassy in Paris estimates
that even with additional short-term foreign aid, external eco-
nomic equilibrium will not be achieved short of an early change
in certain basic policies. France must reassess its policy on
military expenditures, with special reference to the continuation
of Algerian hostilities, and its policy on expenditures for social
welfare, expansion of industry, and atomic energy development.
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6. MALAYAN LEADERS PLAN ALL-OUT EFFORT TO
SUPPRESS COMMUNIST SUBVERSION
Comment on:
Top government officials of the newly
independent Federation of Malaya have
expressed their determination to sup-
press subversive activities of the local
Communists, particularly in labor unions
and Chinese schools. Deputy Prime Minister Razak told the
American charg�n Kuala Lumpur that the recent arrest of
four leftist labor union leaders was designed to impress on
organized labor that it must keep free from Communist influ-
ences, and that failure to do so will result in immediate inter-
vention by the government. The minister of education has also
stated that he will not tolerate such "nonsense" as student
strikes and passive resistance to government policies in Chi-
nese schools.
The government's campaign against Com-
munism may lead to friction with Indonesia. Razak has flatly
accused Indonesian Communists of providing funds for both the
Malayan Communists and ultranationalist Malays. Both Prime
Minister Rahman and Razak have also expressed deep concern
over the Indonesian government's soft policies toward expand-
ing Communist influence and its irresponsible anti-Dutch cam-
paign for the "return" of Netherlands New Guinea.
Malayan leaders believe that strained rela-
tions with Indonesia will create serious political problems for
their own government. Malaya's abstention on the United Nations
vote to put the New Guinea issue on the UN agenda is already being
used in rural areas of Malaya to portray government leaders as
supporters of a colonial power against a friendly neighbor which
has a common religious and ethnic heritage. At the same time
a crackdown on the Chinese schools risks upsetting carefully de-
veloped Malay-Chinese political cooperation because of tradi-
tional Chinese sensitivity to any government action which can
be construed as an attack on Chinese culture.
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7. SUDAN TO CUT COTTON PRICES
Comment on:
The Sudanese finance minister informed
the American ambassador in Khartoum on
31 October that cotton prices would be re-
duced "adequately" within the next three
or four days. The ambassador comments that the resignation
of Mekki Abbas, director of the Gezira Board�Sudan's chief
cotton marketing agency--and the return of Minister of Agri-
culture Hamza Mirghani from his relatively unsuccessful at-
tempt to sell Sudanese cotton in Europe have clarified the gov-
ernment's cotton position. Although the ambassador views the
adequacy of the promised price cuts with some reserve, he
believes that the Sudanese government "now means business."
The Sudan now has on hand about 500,000
bales of unsold cotton. Khartoum's failure to market the bulk
of its cotton crop this year is largely the result of the govern-
ment's belief that because the Soviet bloc purchased large
amounts of Egyptian cotton, the free world would be willing
to pay premium prices for Sudanese cotton. However, a world
surplus of long staple cotton exists and Western buyers have
purchased from other sources. While the Sudan has reduced
prices somewhat, Sudanese cotton is still priced about 20 per-
cent higher than the world price.
It is unlikely, in view of the forthcoming
elections next February, that the government would make cuts
large enough to move the bulk of the 500,000 bales of unsold cotton.
Vague Soviet offers to purchase cotton in the context of an over-
all development program have not yet been seriously considered
by Khartoum.
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8.. BRITAIN FACES INDUSTRIAL STRIFE THIS WINTER
Comment on:
The Macmillan government on 1 Novem-
ber rejected an independent tribunal's rul-
ing that 32,000 workers for the National
Health Service should receive a 3,percent
pay raise. This adds to the growing signs
that industrial strife will dominate the Brit-
ish domestic scene this winter.
Trade unions had already reacted sharply
to the government's unusually firm insistence that further wage
increases would be an intolerable addition to inflationary pres-
sures and would imperil the pound sterling. Unions represent-
ing one third of the 9,000,000 trade union members have sub-
mitted wage demands. The government's response to the claims
of the railway men, which are expected to be announced in mid-
December, will be critical, for action on their annual demands
usually sets the pattern throughout British industry.
The Conservative government and the Labor
opposition will compete for public opinion on this issue, with
the government posing as the protector of sterling and of real
incomes and Labor charging the government with penalizing
wage earners for an inflationary situation caused by a defec-
tive fiscal policy. According to the American embassy in Lon-
don, "Whoever wins this argument presumably will win the next
election."
3 Nov 57
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