CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/12/14

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02988537
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: December 14, 1957

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CURRENT
/ INTELLIGENCE
/ BULLETIN
# /A
CONTINUED CONTROL
Copy No. 135
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE. IN CLASS.
DEC. LASSIPED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS
NEXT HEVIEIN DATE:
AUTH: 7
DATE
t&to
REVIEWER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
15(c)
14 December 1957
3.3(h)(2)
///
,
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CONTENTS
eh 1. INDONESIAN PRESIDENT APPARENTLY PREPARING
FOR DEPARTURE (page 3).
2. PINEAU THREATENS NEUTRALISM I C
TERMS NOT MET AT NATO MEETING
(page 4).
3. SINO-SOVIET SCIENTIFIC PACT ANNOUNCED
(page 5).
de-16 44/Pai , , , 4 442,,,,j:4241-4
ip
. BOMBING OF US IN ALLATIONSI IN GREEC
(page 6).
/105. ISRAELI DIPLOMAT SUGGESTS US JOIN BAGHDAD
PACT TO OFFSET SOVIET GAINS IN MIDDLE EAST
(page 7).
ic 6. IRAQI CABINET SHAKE-UP RUMORED
(page 8).
e A7. DISPERSAL OF PATHETS THROUGHOUT LAOS
TERMED GRAVE DANGER (page 9).
o fi 8. TRUCE COMMISSION IN SOUTH VIETNAM BU
CASE AGAINST US MILITARY AID PROGRAM
(page 10).
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1. INDONESIAN PRESIDENT APPARENTLY PREPARING
FOR DEPARTURE
Comment on:
Latest reports indicate that President
Sukarno will shortly leave Indonesia
for an indefinite period, although his
destination has not been disclosed.
During his absence, army and moder-
ate political leaders apparently will
try to redress Communist gains of
the last few months, which have been
greatly accelerated by the anti-Dutch
drive. A government spokesman is
reported to have indicated that Chief
of Staff Nasution "will be in charge"
during Sukarno's absence despite provi-
sion for parliament speaker Sartono to
be acting president.
Nasution announced on 13 December
that the army will review all past
seizures of Dutch property and will be solely responsible
for carrying out future seizures. He threatened punish-
ment to any persons or groups disobeying these orders.
The leftist-inclined West Irian Libera-
tion Committee, which had planned and implemented the
anti-Dutch drive, apparently is now intended to be of sec-
ondary importance. The army, nevertheless, has as-
signed two 'officers to the committee. Nasution has also
assumed personal leadership of the aggressive Commu-
nist-permeated Youth-Military Cooperation Committee
and has relieved the Communist-influenced officer who
had served as its chairman.
No reaction from the Communists to
these developments is yet evident. General Gatot Subroto,
the deputy army chief of staff, is reported to have said in
November that the Communists are better organized now
than they were in 1948 when they staged an abortive revolt
at Madiun in Central Java.
14 Dec 57 Current Intelligence Bulletin
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2. PINEAU THREATENS NEUTRALISM IF FRENCH TERMS
NOT MET AT NATO MEETING
Comment on:
7
French Foreign Minister Pineau told an
American journalist in an off-the-record
talk on 2 December that Paris will insist
at the forthcoming NATO meeting that all
members agree to support each others'
policies fully. He also threatened that
unless the United States agrees to a $300,-
000,000 loan, France would go neutralist.
He alleged German Chancellor Adenauer
would support such an approach.
Paris has been exploiting French indigna-
tion over the American-British arms
delivery to Tunisia to get renewed Anglo-
American consideration of France as a
great power. France's pre-NATO-meet-
ing diplomacy is aimed at establishing its right to have a
major national nuclear weapons program and, meanwhile,
at controlling any nuclear weapons stationed in France,
The French upper house has passed a
resolution calling on Premier Gaillard to refuse any IRBM
base construction on French soil without National Assembly
approval. Considerable public backing for Pineau's posi-
tion is also indicated by the French press and by a poll
taken a few days after the arms delivery to Tunisia.
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3. SINO-SOVIET SCIENTIFIC PACT ANNOUNCED
Comment on:
The five-year scientific cooperation
agreement between the Academies of
Science of the USSR and Communist
China signed in Moscow on 12 Decem-
ber culminates negotiations that have
been under way between Chinese and Soviet scientists since
1 November.
The full extent of the agreement has not
been disclosed, but the 85 Chinese scientists who made the
trip to Moscow represent almost all fields of science. The
Chinese probably pressed hardest for Soviet assistance in
atomic energy, electronics, and propulsion techniques--
the fields of research which have top priority in China's
12-year (1956-196'7) scientific plan.
The pact calls for joint research and
coordination on technological problems, and emphasis is
also given to Soviet assistance in training "young experts."
Peiping intended to stop sending undergraduates to the
USSR for study and to send only students for training on
the postgraduate level or higher.
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4. BOMBING OF US INSTALLATIONS IN GREECE
Cotament on:
The explosions in Athens on 13 Decem-
ber which virtually destroyed the USIS
library in Athens and damaged two gen-
erators at the US air base Were probably
the work of Greek or Cypriot aational-
ists, although Greek officials have suggested they were set
off by Communists. Three years ago, in December 1954,
strong popular sentiment on Cyprus in Greece resulted in
mob attacks on USIS property in both Athens and Salonika.
In the latter city, considerable damage was caused to the
USIS library and offices.
The Greek government is fully aware of
the explosive aspects of the Cyprus issue and the threat it
poses to good relations With the US. The professional skill
revealed in the demolition operation suggests competent
planning and organization. The government has accordingly
taken extensive security precautions which should prevent
any large-scale demonstrations. Isolated attacks against
American installations and persons will remain a possibility.
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5. ISRAELI DIPLOMAT SUGGESTS US JOIN BAGHDAD
PACT TO OFFSET SOVIET GAINS IN MIDDLE EAST
Comment on:
During a review of the situation in
the Middle East on 10 December,
Israeli Charge Alon in Ankara sug-
gested that the United States should
join the Baghdad pact to offset increased Soviet involve-
ment in the area. Alon prefaced his comment by re-
peating his governments contention that creation of the
Baghdad pact had prompted Soviet interest in the Middle
East, upsetting the balance of power. He said, however,
the he now felt no overt US security guarantees need be
given Israel if the Baghdad pact were strengthened by
US adherence.
Increased Soviet interest in the
Middle East as the champion of the Arabs against Isra-
el threatens to offset Israel's previous military advantage
over the Arabs andhas induced the Israelis to seek greater
United States commitments in the area. In addition to
seeking US protection via the Baghdad pact, Israel has
sought security guarantees from the United States, either
directly or in the form of a NATO guarantee of Middle
Eastern boundaries. Alon's suggestion may also reflect
Israeli concern over recent efforts by Baghdad pact mem-
bers to obtain adherence by Saudi Arabia,' Jordan, and
Lebanon, and the consequent danger that the pact will
become increasingly a vehicle of anti-Israeli Arab polic
in the absence of United States membership.
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6. IRAQI CABINET SHAKE-UP RUMORED
Comment on:
1 Iraqi Prime Minister li Jawdat will be
replaced shortly,
Leading candidates to
replace him are Arshad al-Umari and
Tawfiq al-Suwaydi, both former prime
ministers and members of the ruling
oligarchy.
The reports suggest that Nun i will not
assume the premiership, although he may begome a member
of the cabinet.
Changes in Iraqi cabinets are normally
made with the approval or at the wish of pro-Western Crown
Prince Abd al-Ilah. Since al-Umari, an able vigorous lead-
er who is friendly toward King Saud, is also persona grata
with the crown prince and Nun, he might be given the past
rather than al-Suwaydi, whom Abd al-Ilah reportedly dislikes.
Either individual would maintain Iraq's pro-Western policy
and might possibly take a tougher attitude toward Syria.
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7. DISPERSAL OF PATHETS THROUGHOUT LAOS
TERMED GRAVE DANGER
Comment on:
he British ambassador to Laos, who
itnessed the 8 December ceremonies
arking the formal return of Sam Neua
rovince to royal government authority,
as struck by the discipline and alert-
ess of the Pathet Lao troops and offi-
ials, and believes that their dispersal
hroughout Laos presents a grave danger
. The populace showed that it had been
organized along Communist lines, Communist signs and
slogans were still in evidence, and both school children
and troops greeted the delegation with clenched-fist salutes.
The ambassador was favorably impressed, however, by the
decisive manner in which Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma
conducted the ceremonies and by his private reaffirmation
of plans to destroy the instruments through which the Pathets
exercise control over the population.
Economic conditions in the province were
dismal. Few goods were on display in the shops, and there
were rumors of a rice crop failure and possible famine. A
severe food shortage would offer the royal government an
opportunity to demonstrate its concern for the welfare of the
population but would also probably be a severe test of its
limited capabilities.
Pathet Chief Souphannouvong's last-min-
ute efforts to postpone the ceremony at Sam Neua and the
failure of Pathet Defense Minister Kayson to participate
suggest confusion and possible conflict among the Pathet
leaders over tactics. Unconfirmed reports have identified
Kayson as leader of a "radical" wing of the Pathet Lao who
may refuse to accept the settlement terms negotiated by
the "moderate" Souphannouvong. The British ambassador
thought it possible that Kayson might head a "hard-core"
group which, in the event the integration goes against the
Pathets, would begin guerrilla warfare.
14 Dec 57 Current Intelligence Bulletin
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8. TRUCE COMMISSION IN SOUTH VIETNAM BUILDING
CASE AGAINST US MILITARY AID PROGRAM
Comment on:
The American military aid program in
South Vietnam is being subjected to in-
creasing criticism by the International
Control Commission (ICC) in Vietnam,
apparently in connection with an accelerated Communist
campaign to persuade the ICC to label this'assistance as
a violation of the 1954 Geneva armistice. During the past
two months, the Diem government has received numerous
strongly worded complaints from the ICC and requests for
detailed information on the status and functions of various
American military missions in South Vietnam. Saigon's
responses have been termed "inadequate and unsatisfac-
tory." During the same period there have been attacks
on American personnel
The commission's investigations are
being spurred by the Polish delegation to the three-man
supervisory body, acting on repeated Viet Minh charges
of an American-led military build-up in South Vietnam.
T. N. Kaul of India, who holds the pivotal position of
commission chairman, is believed closely allied with the
Poles on this issue, while the Canadian delegation is in
opposition.
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