CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/04/13

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06814000
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: April 13, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C06814000
CURRENT
/ INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
TO RET
13 April 1957
Copy No. 134
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
.00
'DOCUMENT NO %NS
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
DECLASSIFIED
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CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE)11A5131._ REVIEWER
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP RET
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1. THE SITUATION IN JORDAN
(Information as of 2300 EST)
Comment on:
�
King Hussain's reported designation on
12 April of Senate President Said Al-Mufti
to form a new government suggests that
the king may be unable to obtain a new cab-
inet except on the terms of the coalition of
leftist parties which dominated the Nabulsi
government. Egyptian press reports state
that Al-Mufti, King Hussain's third designee
since the resignation of Nabulsi, will at-
tempt to form a government of independents
who are probably not members of the legis-
lature. His chances of securing parliamen-
tary support appear slim, and the king may
be forced to attempt to dismiss the legisla-
ture and rule by martial law in order to in-
stall a government acceptable to him.
Earlier,on 12 April, ,Abdul Halim Nimr,
� minister of defense and interior in the outgoing ,Nabulsi cabi-
net, abandoned attempts to form a new cabinet. Nimr, a�
� National Socialist, initially appeared to have the support of
the leftist anti-Western coalition of the National Socialist, Baath
and National Front Parties, which dominated the -Nabulsi cabi-
net. This coalition, which also controls the legislature, has
operated on the assumption that no cabinet could be formed with-
out its support.
Meanwhile, according to unconfirmed press
reports from Israeli-controlled Jerusalem, � Syria has announced
that it is reinforcing its 3,000 troops in Jordan because of the
threat of an Israeli invasion. Such a move would probably also
be intended to support the leftist forces.
Cairo radio which has charged that Nabulsils
resignation was engineered by "imperialist influences," has de-
clared that Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia are in constant consul-
tation on means to protect Jordan against possible Israeli: -or.
Iraqi moves.
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CRET
CONTENTS
SITUATION IN JORDAN
02. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN EGYPT
" (page 4).
(page 3).
1103. UNEF CHIEF HAS REPORT ISRAEL MAY SOON ATTEMPT
TRANSIT OF SUEZ CANAL (page 5).
4. EGYPT ORDERS SPECIAL PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN
AGAINST ISRAEL (page 6).
SITUATION EN INDONESIA
DN. NEW ATOMIC EXPLOSION IN USSR
0167. USSR REPORTEDLY OFFERS AID TO TUNISIANS
(page 9).
0 \41 8. SINO-POLISH COMMUNIQUE INDIC AT
NIST ENDORSEMENT FOR GOMULKA
(page 7)..
(page 8).
OMMU-
(page 10).
}1\3. NEW ZEALAND ARMY FAVORS AMERICAN EQUIPMENT
AND ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN (page 11).
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2. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN EGYPT
�
Comment on:
limited new troop
movements into the Sinai Peninsula, ap-
parently including an armored zar battal-
ion and infantry brigade, are taking place.
The destination of these units is uncertain.
Regular army troops already in eastern
Sinai are estimated to be no more than
1,800; there are in addition approximately 1,000 Frontier Corps
troops deployed throughout Sinai in small detachments, and
probably at least 1,000 Palestine army troops in or near the
Gaza strip.
the Egyp-
tians desire to conceal the mission and presence of the limited
new forces being sent into Sinai.
On 11 April, in an appar-
ent attempt to play down the troop movements, Cairo announced
that the Egyptian army had started annual maneuvers three days
earlier.
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COM' IAL �
. 3. UNEF CHIEF HAS REPORT ISRAEL MAY SOON ATTEMPT
TRANSIT OF SUEZ CANAL
General Burns, chief of the UNEF, has
informed the American embassy in Cairo
that he has a reliable report that Israel
plans to attempt to send a ship through
e uez Canal e very near future. Burns believes that
reported Egyptian troop movements are probably defensive
and evoked by the possibility of a French-Israeli follow-up
should an Israeli vessel be barred from the canal.
� Comment Israeli leaders have stated repeatedly that
they intend at an appropriate time to as-
sert their right to transit the canal. The Israelis have given
the impression that they would await the outcome of Western
efforts to obtain a favorable settlement of the canal question,
but they have also evidenced some concern that their claims
might be overlooked in connection with such a settlement.
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CONFIs IAL
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4. EGYPT ORDERS SPECIAL PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN
AGAINST ISRAEL
The rEgyptian Foreign Ministry
ordered a daily propagincm-
paign against Israel
e o jec ives of the campaign are to emphasize�
e aggressive and expansionist aims of Israel against
Egypt" by publicizing provocative statements by Israeli of-
ficials and border incidents perpetrated by Israel, and "to
prepare world-wide opinion" to accept Egyptian preventive
measures against Israeli attempts to use the Suez Canal and
the Gulf of Aqaba.
Comment This campaign will fit in with the Egyp-
tian military alert and the reopening of the
Suez Canal. Cairo apparently believes that its position oppos-
ing Israeli shipping through the canal and Aqaba is most vul-
nerable to Western diplomatic attack. Cairo presumably wants
to prepare its position in case the Suez issue is again brought
into the UN or Israel attempts to send a test ship through the
canal.
On 11 April the commander of the Egyp-
tian navy stated that some naval units had been ordered to
move from Alexandria to Port Said: According to another re-
port, .two freighters loaded bulk cement at Alexandria or 10
April under army orders, and this
method of loading would be used only if the ships were intended
for scuttling.
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� 5. SITUATION IN INDONESIA
Comment on:
� The possibility of conflict in South Sumatra
appears to be increasing as a result of the
build-up of both Sumatran and Javanese
forces in that province. In addition, an
Intense propaganda campaign for popular
support is being waged by pro- and anti-
Djakarta elements.
Following the abortive countercoup in Pal-
embang by Javanese troops on 31 March,
which reportedly narrowly escaped becoming
a "military action:' opposing forces have
largely broken off contact. Javanese troops are reliably re-
ported to be concentrating in the southern part of the province,
and can count on support of the air force and navy, which are
loyal to Djakarta. Sumatran troops and reserves, on the other
hand, are located north of the town of Baturadja. Lt. Col.
Hussein in Central Sumatra is said to be ,sending reinforce-
ments to support these troops under Col. Barlian, the South
Sumatran commander.
An official of the Central Sumatran govern-
ing council has stated that President-Sukarno's new cabinet will
nolbe supported by the outer islands or trusted fully by the
people. He said provincial and military demands that former
vice president Hatta be included in the cabinet had been dis-
regarded and that the participation of fellow travelers had.dis-
appointed religious groups.
In Djakarta, meanwhile, Sukarno has in-
formed the American ambassador that the cabinet's relation-
ship with parliament would be normal and that parliament
retained the power to vote the cabinet out of office. He also
sought to give assurances on its political orientation by re-
peatedly asserting that it contained no Communists, but only
"left-wingers" like himself.
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6. NEW ATOMIC EXPLOSION IN 'USSR
�
Comment This is the fourth atomic test to be con-
ducted by the USSR in the past tif days.
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7. USSR REPORTEDLY OFFERS AID TO TUNISIANS
Comment Tunisia is seeking economic aid from var-
ious sources and might be receptive to
Soviet aid if France continues to withhold credits and the eco-
-nomic situation deteriorates further. Although the Soviet del-
egation might have alluded to economic aid projects to induce
Tunisia to engage in further talks, any offer made was prob-
ably a generalized one and smaller than the one reported. The
delegation is reported to have called on the Tunisian minister
of national economy, but the Bourghiba government scrupu-
lously avoided other high-level contacts.
Tunisian trade with the Soviet bloc is con-
ducted within the framework of French trade agreements
with the bloc and in 1955 amounted to about 1 percent of Tu-
nisia's total trade, or $2,000,000. Potentialities for expand-
ing this trade are limited. Tunisia is heavily in debt and un-
der its present trade setup could not repay a normal loan.
Hence the terms of any. Soviet credit would have to be uniquely
favorable to Tunisia.
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CONUDENTIAL �
8. 'MO-POLISH COMMUNIQUE INDICATES CHINESE
COMMUNIST ENDORSEMENT FOR GOMULKA �
The joint statement issued in Peiping
during the visit of Polish premier
Cyrankiewicz is a Chinese endorsement �
of the Gomulka regime and its moderate
course. The Chinese express gratifica-
tion with Polish Communist Party achievements since last
October, hail Gomulka's leadership, and express confidence
that the Poles will make "increasingly important contribu-
tions" to strengthening the "great family of Socialist coun-
tries."
The communiqu�tates that local condi-
tions must influence the internal development of Communist
countries, but that this development is to be in the context
of Marxism-Leninism. The communiqu�alls for consist-
ent opposition to all deviations, "whether doctrinaire or re-
visionist:' an implicit criticism of extremists in both Warsaw
and Moscow:
On matters of foreign policy, the commu-
niqu�ticks close to the bloc line on most major points. It
urges the necessity for reinforcing bloc solidarity against
the West and calls the Warsaw treaty an "entirely necessary"
defensive measure.
The communiqu�oes not make the custom-
ary reference to the USSR as head of the Communist world,
� and while approving the Kadar regime, omits the Soviet view
that counterrevolutionaries instigated the Hungarian rebellion.
Peiping's willingness to overlook such Polish divergencies is
in keeping with the announced Chinese Communist policy of
exploiting areas of agreement while resprvina differences.
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9. NEW ZEALAND ARMY FAVORS AMERICAN EQUIPMENT
AND ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN
According to the American army attach�
in Wellington, the New Zealand army is
considering converting its single British-
type infantry division to a corps witlf.two
infantry divisions, each divided into five
suborainate combat teams, on the new American "pentomic"
pattern. This would require some increase in New Zealand's
7,000-man regular army as well as its 35,000-man territ0- �
riarforces. Army officials have also proposed that these
units be re-equipped with American materiel.
The attach�oints out that this thinking
is a result of recent defense policy decisions taken by Britain
and Australia, and may foreshadow the development of a mu-
tually supporting defense structure with Australia.
Comment
Australia's recent decision to re-equip its
armed forces with American rather than
British materiel undoubtedly has had a strong impact on New
Zealand defense planning. New Zealand's limited dollar re-
sources, together with the government's reluctance to spend
money for defense--which received only 7 percent of total
expenditures in the 1956 fiscal year--raise the likelihood
that American assistance will be sought to implement any de-
cision to purchase US equipment.
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