CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/12/28

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03166569
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: December 28, 1957

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3.5(c)
28 December 1957
Copy No,
3.3(h)(2)
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
nocumEN r NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS. f
DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO:
NEXT REVIEW DATE�
ALIAT44 7,412
D 1)
REVIEWER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SECRET
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4.
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'NNW �ter,
CONTENTS
go. INDONESIA SEEKING ARMS FROM YUGOSLAVIA AND
SOVIET BLOC (page 3).
JAPANESE-INDONESIAN SHIP AGREEMENT
(page 4).
PLAN TO OUST PRESENT CEYLONESE GOVERNMENT
(page 5).
POSSIBLE NEW SOVIET HEAVY BOMBER
(page 6).
/1. POSSIBLE BW UNIT IN EAST GERMANY
af-6.
7. CHINESE COMMUNISTS PURGE TOP PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS
IN CHEKIANO (page 9).
(page 7).
FRANCE SUGGESTS MOROCCAN MEDIATION FOR CEASE-
FIRE IN ALGERIA (page 8).
28 Dec 57
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I. INDONESIA SEEKING ARMS FROM YUGOSLAVIA
AND SOVIET BLOC
Comment on:
Indonesia apparently has definitely
decided to turn to Yugoslavia and the
Communist bloc for arms.
lndonesia is
proceeding with plans to purchase mil-
itary equipment from Yugoslavia, Czecho-
slovakia, and Poland.
A Danish munitions firm reported that
Indonesia had dropped negotiations for
the cash purchase of arms, explaining
that materiel will be obtained on credit
from Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. American Ambassa-
dor Riddleberger in Belgrade assumes that a 27 December
visit to Tito by the Indonesian ambassador and a group of
high-ranking Yugoslays was the beginning of arms negotia-
tions. Colonel Jani, Indonesian deputy army chief of staff,
will head a purchasing mission to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia,
and Poland, according to the American Embassy in Djakarta.
The Indonesian army has long been eager
to re-equip its forces. Although most army leaders would
prefer to purchase equipment from the West, political pres-
sures have increased to accept arms from the bloc. The
army is believed to be chiefly interested at present in small
arms, ammunition, and army transport vehicles.
Communist China as offerd
credit for arms purchases from Communist bloc countries.
28 Dec 57
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CONFIDENTIAL
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ILL/ A.J_L V JLIL./
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20 JAPANESE-INDONESIAN SHIP AGREEMENT
Comment on:
Japanese shipowners and an Indonesian
government mission in Tokyo have
reached agreement on general terms
for the lease of Japanese ships totaling
75,000 tons for Indonesia's vital inter-
island shipping traffic. A forrnaravrP-emarif_w-q_s-s_eitadnlPxL
to be signed on 27 December.
ert
The agreement authorizes the transfer by
mid-February for a minimum of six months of 26 freighters
of 2,000 to 4,000 tons. Small tankers of up to 5,000 tons will
be transferred in a second stage, and large ocean-going ves-
sels will be considered still later. Indonesian crews will be
used whenever possible, but the ships will have Japanese mas-
ters and officers. Charterage fees are to be paid in advance in
pounds sterling.
The Japanese ships will replace about half
of the Dutch tonnage which has been withdrawn from Indonesian
'waters and thus ease the critical shipping shortage which has
created serious food dislocations. Although Japan probably will
be the major supplier of ships to Indonesia, Djakarta is looking
to other areas, including the Communist bloc, to overcome its
remaining shipping deficiencies.
28 Dec 57
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leoNFIDENTH*
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3. PLAN TO OUST PRESENT CEYLONESE GOVERNMENT
Comment on:
Although the group tentatively plans to
take action in February, available information suggests it
will not be prepared by that time. There is rivalry among
the leaders, the group's plans are amorphous, and it does
not yet have the support of elements necessary for success.
Furthermore, the group probably does not have any signif-
icant popular following.
In the event of an unsuccessful coup, Prime
Minister Bandaranaike might feel compelled to take some puni-
tive, action which would affect various Ceylonese conservative
military and political groups, whether or not they had any con-
nection with the plot. This could create considerable instabil-
ity and unrest on Ceylon and provide opportunities for the
leftists to exploit.
Should the group, after improving its capa-
bilities and plans, carry out a successful coup at some future
date, its institution of rule might create wide-
spread popular antagonism, not only on Ceylon but in other
Asian countries. India, particularly, would probably see a
Western hand in the forcible establishment of any rightist, pro-
Western government on Ceylon. Probable administrative con-
fusion accompanying such a coup would be likely to disrupt
Ceylon's economy, which is heavily dependent on the steady
flow of exports such as tea and rubber for revenue and on reg-
ular imports for two thirds of its annual food supply. This
could lead to island-wide unrest which Ceylon's 4,000-man
armed services and 8,000-man police force would find diffi-
cult to contain.
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4. POSSIBLE NEW SOVIET HEAVY BOMBER
Comment on:
Additional information on the long-
distance flight described in the 24
December issue of Red Star indicates
that the jet heavy bomber involved may
have been a new Soviet aircraft. The
article stated that "even for persons accustomed to being
the first to see what is newly created in aviation, this air-
plane is surprising by the perfection of its form and its colos-
sal size."
The flight was described as the first long-
distance test of this aircraft, following numerous short test
flights. The bomber flew an unspecified record distance with-
out aerial refueling, at altitudes above 39,000 feet carrying
"tens of tons" of fuel rather than "ten tons" as first reported.
The "many hours" required for the flight suggest subsonic speed.
28 Dec 57
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"AF14142/44147'TT1�A-1,
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',411d
5. POSSIBLE BW UNIT IN EAST GERMANY
Soviet biological warfare (BW) detach-
ments may be located in East Germany.
Comment This is the first evidence of any offensive
BW detachment in the GSFG, and Soviet
capability in offensive BW may have increased there in the
past two years. No information is available on the organiza-
tion and equipment of such detachments in Soviet military com-
mands.
Reliable reports have indicated a Soviet in-
terest in adopting to BW use spray tanks for aircraft, aerosol
generators, insect vectors4 and artillery projectiles. Training
exercises often include references to chemical-biological-
radiological (CBR) warfare, and Soviet publications for civil-
ian and military use provide information on defensive aspects
of CBR warfare.
28 Dec 57
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6. FRANCE SUGGESTS MOROCCAN MEDIATION FOR
CEASE-FIRE IN ALGERIA
Comment on:
On instructions from Paris, the French
Embassy in Rabat recently sounded out
the Moroccan Government on the possi-
bility of Moroccan mediation to bring about
a cease-fire in Algeria, according to a source close to French
Foreign Minister Pineau. Premier Gaillard has obtained cab-
inet approval for this limited response to last month's Moroccan-
Tunisian offer of good offices to settle the conflict. Recent
French-Tunisian difficulties--particularly over the arms ques-
tion--ruled out acceptance of Bourguiba as an intermediary, at
least for the present.
Because Moroccan officials insisted that
Tunisia must be kept informed, Gaillard did not follow up his
embassy's approach immediately. Pineau, however, may go
to Rabat soon to discuss cease-fire negotiations. Pineau's
confidant told the American Embassy in Paris on 24 December
that the chances for negotiation of a cease-fire are "not bad."
He claims an FLN military leader was recently in Rabat and
"undoubtedly" discussed such a move.
Gaillard is probably reluctant to take any
step now which might prejudice Council of the Republic action
on the Basic Statute for Algeria recently voted by the National
Assembly. There is already some fear that 1V1inister for Algeria
Lacoste and influential conservatives may influence the upper
house to amend or vote down the statute, thereby throwing it back
to the assembly.
28 Dec 57
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CONIThENTIAL
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T.I. -111-1.1
7. CHINESE COMMUNISTS PURGE TOP PROVINCIAL
OFFICIALS IN CHEKIANG
Comment on:
Four members of the Chekiang com-
mittee of the Chinese Communist
party�at least two of whom were prob-
ably party secretaries and one of whom
was concurrently governor of the prov-
ince--have been expelled from the party as "rightists," ac-
cording to a Peiping broadcast of 26 December. The removal
of these men from their government posts can be expected to
follow in due course.
The attack on these provincial party lead-
ers is an indication that a drastic weeding out of the party
called for by Secretary General Teng Hsiao-ping and other
party spokesmen is picking up speed. This move follows a
resurgence of publicity during the past week concerning the
danger of permitting rightists to remain in the party.
The purge is expected to claim up to 5
percent of the approximately 12,700,000 party members, and
may even reach two or three members of the central com-
mittee in its final stages.
28 Dec 57
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CONFIDENTIAL
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