CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/03/16

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Keywords: 2018 Sanitization
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03180491
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: March 16, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/04
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16 March 1957
DOCUMENT NO. �
NO CHANGE IN CLAbS
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CLAiS.CHANED .1. a
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTH: IiR -IO-
DATE
T3
REVIEWER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SECRET
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400.K. 4"k
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CONTENTS
1. THE SITUATION IN GAZA
(.11)2. SITUATION IN INDONESIA
3, POLITICAL MANEUVE
G IN SYRIA
(page 3)�
(page 5).
(page 7).
4. SOVIET 7LOC AGREES TO SHIP ARMS TO ALGERIAN
REBELS (page 8).
/l0 5. NEW PANAMANIAN DEMANDS ON CANAL EXPECTED
page 9).
6. PEIPING REBUFFS REQUEST BY U NU TO VISIT THAI
AUTONOMOUS AREA (page 10).
7. PATHETS SEEK TO BUILD POPULAR DEMAND FOR SET-
TLEMENT (page 11).
/.98 POLISH DEVELO M
OFFICIAL SAYS
16 Mar 57
TERPRETED BY WEST,
(page 12)0
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11. La At
1, THE SITUATION IN GAZA
UN Secretary General Hammarskjold
has postponed temporarily his departure
for Cairo. He will, meanwhile, confer
with Israeli foreign minister Meir, who
is returning to New York via Paris to
fight return of the Gaza strip to Egyptian
control. An Israeli Foreign Ministry
spokesman said that Mrs. Meir was mak-
ing the trip "to make an effort to solve
the Gaza problem by diplomatic means
before the government considers other
means," An Israeli communiqu�tated
that the United Nations should retain con-
trol of the Gaza strip.
Nasr has moved swiftly toward re-estab-
lishment of Egyptian political and adminis-
trative control in the strip. The Egyptian
official responsible for Palestine affairs
has confirmed that the initial group of five
officials who returned to Gaza with the
Egyptian governor, General Latif, were
military personnel. It was emphasized, however, that their
pole function would be to re-establish Egyptian administra-
tion over the area, and that all administrative officials in
such border areas were military officers. According to the
Cairo press, police in the Gaza strip began taking orders
from the Egyptian administration on 15 March, and General
Latif has appointed local governors for the three chief dis-
tricts of the strip.
In conversations with UN Under Secretary
General Bunche,Nasr indicated that he was in no hurry to send
Egyptian military units into Gaza. Nasr insisted, however,
that UN troops must be deployed "astride" the armistice lines,
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and that UNEF headquarters should be in the El Auja "demil-
itarized zone" which has been occupied and fortified by Israel.
Israel has vigorously announced its unwillingness to have UN
troops stationed within its borders. In a probable attempt to
thwart new pressure from Israel, Egypt on 15 March report-
edly demanded that UN forces withdraw from present Gaza
positions and take up stations on the armistice lines within 48
hours.
Egypt also
took over control of the airfield at El Arish from UN forces on
14 March. Intercepted messages indicate that one or two com-
panies of the Egyptian Frontier Corps are also in this area.
UN troops inside the Gaza strip amount to about 2,500, and the
Brazilian battalion of about 550 men is at El Arish. Israeli
forces in the vicinity of the strip include at least two infantry
and two armored brigades. This strength is believed adequate
to reoccupy the Gaza strip with little chance of prior warning.
16 Mar 57
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Aft, 1.151.1fi
.� SITUATION IN INDONESIA
Comment on:
President uKarno's aectaration al a
nationwide "state of war and siege" on
14 March, after accepting Premier
Al's resignation, establishes full mar-
tial law which gives the army and
Sukarno--as commander in chief--a
free hand to govern Indonesia.
Sukarno has asked Suwirjo, chairman of
the National Party, to form a cabinet "in the shortest possible
time" and then to set up the national council "in conformity
with the president's concept. Suwirjo, although generally
regarded as a moderate, is not a strong personality and prob-
ably can be easily manipulated by Sukarno.
Under Sukarno's revised concept, Commu-
nists will not be included in the cabinet but will participate in
the council. In a cabinet headed by Suwirjo, however, it seems
likely that the Communists will be given indirect representa-
tion through the participation of one or more small parties
which are susceptible to Communist direction.
In a protracted state of martial law, there
is a strong possibility that a struggle for predominance would
develop between Sukarno and the army. The army general staff,
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including at least two leaders from outer islands which have
declared their autonomy, is now meeting in Djakarta and is
presumably considering the army's position in the current
crisis. To date the only indication of the army's attitude is
the statement of an army spokesman that the state of war and
siege would be lifted "as soon as the national situation returns
to normal."
armed gangs of Com-
munist youths have been moved into the capital from West Java,
reportedly to "start trouble" 11 Sukarno's concept i
Moslem youth groups are also arming to retaliate.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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I
POLITICAL MANEUVERING IN SYRIA
Comment on:
rightist ele-
ments in Syria are stepping up efforts
to counter leftist influences there.
American officials report they have
received hints
that "in the next fey
days developments would probably oc
cur which would be highly pleasing to
American policy."
I President Quwatli, with the
help of rightist elements, is working to rid the present cab-
inet of leftists.
Quwatli, Acting
Minister of Defense Azm, who lately has shown signs of co-
operating with the rightists, and the Syrian chief of staff
have approved important changes of army personnel, in-
cluding the removal of Colonel Sarraj, head of Syrian army
intelligence and reputed strong man in Syria. The American
embassy in Damascus comments that Sarraj has survived
other attempts to remove him, but that if Saudi Arabia or
Egypt or both withdrew support, his position might be un-
tenable. A possible indication of Saudi intervention in Syrian
affairs is suggested by the arrival in Damascus of Major Gen-
eral Selo, a high Syrian official in the regime of General Adib
Shishakli who is now military adviser to Saudi Arabia. Egypt
recently dissuaded Sarraj from attempting a coup against the
government and has been engaged in a press campaign in
Syria favoring the representation of the rightist Populist
Party in the Syrian cabinet.
These reports suggest that a showdown be-
tween rightist and leftist elements may again be in the offing.
In the face of rightist moves, the leftists may well disregard
Egyptian admonitions of caution and move to establish a mil-
itary junta in Syria in order to consolidate their position.
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4. SOVIET BLOC AGREES TO SHIP ARMS TO
ALGE N REBELS
Comment on:
signed
an arms con-
tract with Czechoslovakia would be
the arms would be
sent to Po ]an for shipment
Although the Czechs have indicated
willingness to provide arms for rebel activity in Algeria,
they are demanding that a credit be opened immediately
and that the arms be paid for prior to the departure of the
ship. The Egyptian negotiators in Prague stated that an
arms contract with a West German firm had been canceled
to provide the necessary funds, which would be available by
28 March.
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a. NEW PANAMANIAN DEMANDS ON CANAL EXPECTED
The Panamanian foreign minister is to
give a "forceful" speech about 25 March,
'proposing greater participation by Panama
in the "financial benefits" of the Panama
Canal.
the decision to give the speech was made during a dis-
cussion of Panama's economic problems among President de
La Guardia, Foreign Minister Boyd, and Finance Minister Caries.
The speech is to be made at the conference on the juridical sta-
tus of the canal which opens at the University of Panama on 25
March.
Comment The conference at the university was con-
ceived by leftists and nationalists as a
forum for the discussion of plans to nationalize or internation-
alize the Panama Canal. Efforts have been made to secure the
participation of individuals from Egypt and Western Europe as
well as from neighboring countries.
Panamanian officials oppose the interna-
tionalization of the canal and consider nationalization impracti-
cal. They have, however, persistently pressed the United
States for recognition of Panama's sovereignty in the Canal
Zone and its "right" to a greater share in the administration
and "profits" of the canal. Well-publicized Panamanian de-
mands on the United States have often served to distract public
opinion from domestic problems�such as the current serious
unemployment in Panama City and Colon.
Nationalistic Panamanian opinion has been
emboldened by Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal, and
Panamanian officials have publicly defended Egypt's action. On
14 March the government instructed Panama-registered ships
transiting the Suez Canal to pay full tolls directly to Egypt.
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6. PEIPING REBUFFS REQUEST BY U NU TO VISIT THAI
AUTONOMOUS AREA
The Chinese Communist government
has rejected Burmese premier U Nuis
request that he be permitted to visit
the Thai autonomous area in Yunnan
when he returns overland from Kun-
ming Later mis month,
The Chinese statea tney coma taiie lull secu-
rity measures on their side of the border but implied that
Nu and his party might run into trouble from Chinese Na-
tionalist irregulars on the Burma side.
Comment Nu's request to visit the Thai autonomous
area may have reflected in part a desire
to see for himself if there were any basis for rumors circu-
lating over the past few years that this area was being used
as a center for the training of Communist cadres for intro-
duction into Southeast Asian countries. Any suspicions he
has on this score may well be strengthened by Peiping's re-
jection of his request on flimsy grounds.
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7. PATHETS SEEK TO BUILD POPULAR
DEMAND FOR SETTLEMENT
The Viet Minh believes that the in-
ability of the Pathet Lao to overcome
the "inertia of the deputies...and Prime
Minister Souvanna Phouma's contrari-
ness" and bring negotiations to a successful conclusion is
the result of its failure to win mass support,
It was decided in late February to "resume work with the
masses on a grand scale." The removal of Viet Minh cadres
remaining in Laos is being suspended, and cadres are to be
circulated throughout the country "to determine measures to
be taken to exploit the masses successfully."
Comment The adjournment of the National Assem-
bly on 15 March indicates that final ac-
tion on the Pathet issue will be deferred at least until May
when the assembly reopens. Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma
plans no rupture in negotiations and is apparently counting on
Prince Petsarath--who returns this month from self-exile in
Thailand--to mediate a final settlement. Petsarath in a 13
March press interview expressed an interest in participating
in the negotiations with the Pathets, and also intimated he was
in line to be the next Laotian prime minister. The Pathets,
aware of the important role Petsarath will play in Laotian af-
fairs, are seeking to attach one of their "personalities" to his
entourage.
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8. POLISH DEVELOPMENTS MISINTERPRETED BY WEST,
OFFICIAL SAYS
On 12 March, Polish deputy foreign
minister Winiewicz told Ambassador
Jacobs that the Western press had
erred in assessing the present situa-
tion in Poland as a slowing up of liberalization. On the
contrary, he said, the government is entering a period of
"normalizing the changes" in which "revolutionary aspects"
could no longer play a part.
Referring to Western reports that the
pro-Stalin Natolin group is gaining strength, Winiewicz
said that the purge of elements who did not accept party
first secretary Gomulka's policies had been completed.
Gomulka is satisfied, he said, that those remaining in the
government are fully in sympathy with his plans and com-
mitted to work for them. Winiewicz said that "continuing
agitation and useless criticism" by certain Polish journal-
ists had brought about the renewal of censorship because
the government could not permit the "irresponsible ad-
vancement of impractical ideas that would divert attention
from the main effort."
Comment Gomulka's recent moves to restrict the
press and to retain certain Stalinists in
the government have been interpreted by the Polish people
as a slowing down of the liberalization program.
In stressing normalization and the impor-
tance of curbing "impractical ideas" Winiewicz suggests that
a level of liberalization has been reached in Poland beyond
which Gomulka does not intend to go. He appears to be echo-
ing Gomulka's hope that many Natolins can be won over to sup-
port of his independent program.
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