CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A001900030001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 7, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 3, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO. ~~ --- /
AUTH: HR 70-2 25X1
/ DATE: XT -80 REVIEWER:
/ 25X1
/
Office of Current Intelligence
25X1 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
DIA and DOS review(s) completed.
Ole se 20_V0_&1Sj3)qVFW9T0
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SUMMARY
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
3. Iraq reported unwilling to sign new Arab pact (page 4).
4. Israeli prime minister says Egypt is "playing with fire" (page 5).
WESTERN EUROPE
6. Bonn officials plan retaliation against East German truck tolls
(page 6).
7. West German defense legislation likely to be delayed (page 7).
THE FORMOSA STRAITS
(pages 8, 9)
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NEAR EAST - AFRICA
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Iraq reported unwilling to sign new Arab pact:
The Iraqi minister to Syria stated flatly
to Ambassador Moose on 30 March that
"Iraq is not going to sign any new pact."
The minister referred to an offer by
Syria to sign a new defense pact with Egypt on condition that pro-
vision be made for Iraq's participation.
Ambassador Moose comments that if
the minister's statement reflects a firm government policy, then
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Iraq appears uninterested in the current Syrian effort to "save
Egyptian face," Syria is trying to bring Iraq into the new pact
proposed by Cairo to replace the .Arab League Collective Security
Pact.
Comment; The Iraqi government proba-
bly is opposed to the Cairo sponsored pact, since Iraqi. participa-
tion would have the twofold effect of endorsing Egypt's opposition
to the Turkish-Iraqi pact and of buttressing the present anti-Iraqi
government in Syria.
Turkish officials have expressed con-
cern, however, that steps may be required to keep Iraq from
succumbing to Syrian-Egyptian pressure to adhere to the pro
posed pact in the interest of preserving Arab unity:
4. Israeli prime minister says Egypt is "playing with fire":
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the situation is extremely tense and that all the elements for an
explosion are present.
on the Israel! border. Sharett said he wished to emphasize that
Israeli prime minister Sharett told
Ambassador Lawson on 1 April that
Egypt is "playing with fire" and would
be well advised to exercise restraint
Comment: This reports emphasizes
the likelihood, noted byte American army attache in Tel Aviv
on 30 March, that a "heavy" engagement between Israeli and
Arab military forces will result from heightened border tension.
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WESTERN EUROPE
25X1A6' Bonn officials plan retaliation against East German truck tolls:
West German economic officials want to
threaten termination of Western deliv-
eries of key products, such as Ruhr coke
and steel, to East Germany in order to
force the East German government to cancel the recent increases
in levies on truck shipments to West Berlin.
They told American representatives in
Bonn that this threat would take the form of a Bundestag pro-
posal for an exorbitant tax on exports to East Germany. The
tax would be set so high that Western exporters could not pay
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it unless the East Germans absorbed the costs. The proceeds of
the tax would be placed in a special fund to pay the East German
truck taxes.
Comment: Such a threat might cause
to reconsider its position on the
FT-
the East German governmen
truck taxes. Except in the sphere of interzonal trade, West
Germany probably has no other effective means for retaliation.
At present the flow of traffic to West
Berlin is normal since the West Berlin government is paying
the tax.
West German defense legislation likely to be delayed:
Officials of the West German govern-
ment and key Bundestag deputies now
feel that defense legislation to imple-
ment the Paris accords will not be
in Bonn. West German defense planners had said previously
that such legislation would be passed before the Bundestag's
summer recess.
enacted until autumn, according to American representatives
Responsible for the expected delay
are procedural difficulties in the Bundestag and the belief of
many deputies that such legislation should be delayed until pub-
lic opinion is more favorable.
American officials now predict that
the German arms build-up will not start before early 1956.
Comment: The belief is strong in West
Germany that rearmament s ould not be undertaken until the West
has made a major effort to test Moscow's intentions on German
unity.
The pessimism of Bonn government offi-
cials on the defense legislation issue has probably been inspired
partly by the Finance Ministry, which for fiscal reasons is not
anxious to support a rapid arms build-up.
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THE FORMOSA STRAITS
Report of the IAC Current Intelligence Group
for the Formosa Straits Problem
This report is based on information received in Washington
up to 1100 hours 2 April 1955.
I. Military activity in the area has been negligible. Bad
weather hampered observation.
2. The US Army Attache reports from personal observa-
tion that Chinese Nationalist defenses in the Matsu Area Defense
Command are being rapidly improved; the garrison should be
able to give a good account of itself if it can continue the present
rate of improvement for thirty days more. Units are at five per
cent over-strength and the logistical situation is considered ade-
quate. Lack of adequate antiaircraft defenses and insufficient
artillery, mortars, and automatic weapons are serious weak-
nesses in the Matsu defenses at present. Even if these deficien-
cies are corrected, however, the Chinese Communists will retain
the capabilit to take these islands against Nationalist forces
alone.
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THE FORMOSA STRAITS
Report of the IAC Current Intelligence Group
for the Formosa Straits Problem
This report is based on information received in Washington
up to 1100 hours 3 April 1955.
1. Three Chinese Nationalist minor naval vessels attacked
a Chinese Communist patrol boat and an LCT in the Matsu area on
3 April. The Nationalist vessels were driven off by Communist
coastal artillery,
This is the first report of Chinese Nationalist naval
action to restrict recent Communist naval and logistic operations,
which have been openly and freely conducted in the Matsu area.
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3 Apr 55
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