CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/04/11

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06813999
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: April 11, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C06813999
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CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
TOP CRET
11 April 1957
Copy No. 134
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
DOCUMENT NO
NO CHANGE IN CLASS
[7 DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
IA
)IJA
REVIEWER
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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CONTENTS
4 3 1. THE SITUATION IN JORDAN
do 2. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN EGYPT
page 4).
(page 3).
06 3. THIRD EXPLOSION IN CURRENT SOVIET ATOMIC TEST
SERIES (page 5).
o kyl. USSR MAY BE CUTTING ITS NUCLEAR ELECTRIC POWER
PLANS (page 6).
1,. USSR SEEKS COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH MOROCCO
(page 7).
/16 6. SOUTH KOREAN VICE 7RESENT MIGHT SEEK ASYLUM
IN SUCCESSION CRISIS (page 8).
11 Apr 57
THE TAIWAN STRAIT
page 9)
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1. THE SITUATION IN JORDAN
Comment on;/
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The resignation of Prime Minister Nabulsi
and his leftist-dominated cabinet on 10 April
after 11 days of intensive political maneuver-
ing does not necessarily indicate a victory
for pro-Western Jordanian forces. It has
been accompanied thus far by at least two
other key personnel shifts which appear un-
favorable to Western interests and may ac-
tually curtail the power of King Hussain. By
resigning, Nabulsi may have given the king
an opportunity to "save facer while assuring
that there will be only limited changes in the
new cabinet. The Nabulsi cabinet will remain
in office until a new government is formed.
The pro-Hussain director of public security
and police, Bajat Tabbara, was granted extended leave on 10
April, according to Damascus radio. Tabbara's removal had
been a key leftist objective. The loyalty of Tabbara's replace-
ment, newly promoted Major General Muhammad Maayta, more-
over, seems doubtful. Maayta is reported to be a supporter of
the pro-Egyptian left-wing Baath Party, and of the ultranation-
alist "free officers" group. He was recently Jordan's military
attach�n Beirut, where he worked with Egyptian and, Syrian in-
telligence against conservative refugee Syrian and Jordanian
politicians. Despite this background, the king recently expressed
confidence in Maayta's loyalty.
Statements by Damascus radio suggest that
the directorate of police and public security has been placed un-
der army chief of staff General Nuwar. Although Hussain is re-
ported to have planned to fire Nuwar, the general remains on the
job and is consulting with the Nabulsi cabinet. The loyalty of the
Jordanian army also remains uncertain, although Hussain has
professed confidence in its support.
The king did not have the support of Nuwar and the
"free officers" in his dispute with the cabinet. The moves under-
taken thus far appear to have concentrated Dower in the hands of
the army.
11 Apr 57
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'1,31Pat'
2. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN EGYPT
Comment on:
�
Following institution of a general "alert"
of Egyptian military and diplomatic per-
sonnel on 4 April, a large-scale rede-
ployment of Egyptian army units has been
undertaken�apparently to disperse these
forces as a precaution against possible
Anglo-French-Israeli moves. Some re-
serve and national guard personnel have
been called up, and units are being deployed
to field positions in the environs of Cairo.
Some movement eastward toward the Suez
Canal and possibly into Sinai has been reported. While limited
additional forces may be deployed into this area, movement
of major forces to eastern Sinai near the Israeli border would
be unlikely at this time because of inadequate logistical prep-
arations for such a move.
Egyptian air force units are also reported
to have been alerted,
luairows desire to have a limited number
of pilots returned from Syria and the Soviet bloc in the near
future.
11 Apr 57 Current Intelligence Bulletin
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3. THIRD EXPLOSION IN CURRENT SOVIET ATOMIC
TEST SERIES
Comment
11 Apr 57
This is the third atomic test to be con-
ducted by the USSR in the past eight
days.
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 5
SEPT
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4. USSR MAY BE CUTTING ITS NUCLEAR ELECTRIC
PCIW1.14 PLAN'S
A recent official Soviet response to a
questionnaire from a subcommittee of UNESCO suggests a
significant reduction of Soviet nuclear electric power plans.
The USSR, according to this information, now plans to con-
struct only three 400-megawatt plants, and to obtain several
years of experience with these prior to launching a more ex-
tensive program. Plans announced a year ago called for con-
struction of four 400- to 600-megawatt nuclear power plants
by 1960. Both the original plan and the new plan call for con-
struction of four smaller experimental power reactors. The
Soviet nuclear power program now planned for the Sixth Five-
Year Plan (1956-1960) apparently calls for a capacity of only
1,400 megawatts, rather than the 2,100- to 2,500-megawatt ca-
pacity announced last year.
The USSR also revealed in the question-
naire that it plans to reduce the cost of nuclear power pro-
duction by using the plutonium obtained from the operation to
replace the enriched uranium-235 seed in the power reactor
cores. It had been assumed previously that the plutonium
produced would be used for nuclear weapons. This new pro-
cedure would reduce appreciably the amount of plutonium which
would be made available by this source for nuclear weapons af-
ter 1960, but would cause only a slight decrease in the total
amount of nuclear materials estimated to be available at that
time.
11 Apr 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin
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5.. USSR SEEKS COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH MOROCCO
A Soviet commercial delegation arrived
in Rabat on 9 April to discuss the sign-
ing of a Soviet-Moroccan commercial
treaty. Moroccan officials admitted to
a French diplomat that negotiations had
already been going on "for several days"
in Paris. Press dispatches state that
the Rabat discussions are expected to end
on 12 April.
Moroccan foreign minister Balafrej as-
sured the American ambassador that Rabat, conscious that
its national interests lie with the West, will "hold the line"
and try to limit the talks to strictly technical matters. He
appeared uneasy, however, and acknowledged that the Soviet
delegation might come forward with "other propositions."
Comment Moroccan trade with the USSR, hereto-
fore carried out within Soviet-French
trade agreements, has been insignificant. Since Morocco
is a member of the franc bloc and all clearing arrangements
are made in Paris, France as a practical matter probably
would participate in any agreement, as it did in the Moroccan-
Czech trade agreement of December.
The delegation will probably be prepared
to offer economic inducements calculated to make it difficult
for Rabat to hold the line against establishing full diplomatic
relations with Moscow. A disagreement is reported within
the Moroccan cabinet regarding expanded trade relations with
the Soviet bloc.
11 Apr 57
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6. SOUTH KOREAN VICE PRESIDENT MIGHT SEEK ASYLUM
IN SUCCESSION CRISIS
Far East commander General Lemnitzer
believes South Korean vice president Chang
Myon lacks the resoluteness necessary to
cope with a succession crisis in South Korea.
He notes that plots by the Rhee administration constitute "a very
teal threat" to Changis safety, and warns that if Rhee dies or
is incapacitated, Chang may well seek asylum in an American
Installation. Such a move, Lemnitzer notes, would damage
Chang's prestige with the Korean people, aggravate the insta-
bility which would accompany any succession crisis, and pos-
sibly endanger the American position in Korea. Lemnitzer
has received reports that opposing Liberal Party officials have
ordered the Korean army CIC to maintain 24-hour surveillance
of Chang lest he seek asylum with US forces. (NOFORN)
Comment Although Rhee lately appears to have un-
derscored his desire that Assembly speaker
Yi Ki-pung succeed him�which would necessitate getting Chang
out of the way�there has been no indication that a move in this
direction is imminent.
Chang previously has sought American pro-
tection in times of political stress.
11 Apr 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 8
_1(41"- ECSET
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SUMMARY
13 March - 10 April 1957
THE TAIWAN STRAIT
Report of the IAC Current Intelligence Group
for the Taiwan Strait Problem
1. There were no significant combat operations in the area
during the period.
�
2. The suggestion was made
that an oceanographic expedition scheduled for April
or May be postponed until 1959 because of the "present state of se-
curity in the Yellow and East China Seas." Peiping may feel that,
for the near future at least. the exnedition would re to risk harass-
ment by hostile patrols.
3. Chinese Communist propaganda on Taiwan has been of rou-
tine character in recent weeks with the usual appeals for "peaceful
liberation" of the island. The propaganda stresses the "unity" of
Chinese on Taiwan and on the mainland and attempts to drive a wedge
between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek.
11 Apr 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 9
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TAIWAN STRAIT SITUATION
CHINESE COMMUNIST AIRFIELD LEGEND: 10 APRIL 1957
SECONDARY AIRFIELD
PRIMARY AIRNELD
DESIGNATIONS
ACTIVE BASE FOR MILITARY IL ofiuAN *M-
OLAR. SOME BASES USED BY PISTON EWES
MAY ER USABLE BY JETS
'AUXILLART OR EMERGENCY RAMS
CONSIDERED PION IMPORTANT IN 0s REL/0 0/ Lima. IMPORTANCE.
ARE* WITH PREPARED RUNWAY RUNWAYS GENERALLY � LESS THAN
GENERALLY SCOO FEET OR LONGER. 3000.FEEr.
INACTIVE BASES CAPABLE Of USE By AIRCRAFT
CURRENT STATUS UNDETERMINED
� OPERATIONAL A
e SERVILIEASLE A
0 UN OWN A
USABILITY
4. I ?
1* FLEWS NOT CONSIDERED CAPABLE
Of SuPPORTINO SUSTAINED OPER-
ATIONS AT PRESENT.
TU-2.
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CHANGJING
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MATSUS
22,000
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83,000
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TIBNOHU
16,000
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SO BOO
-4-1-1. Railroad
1110 110
IT.,ure MIL'S
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*NAT1ONAUST AIRFIELD
Primary roads
Secondary roads
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