MONTHLY REPORT--NICOSIA BUREAU--MARCH 1981

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00385R000200090020-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2007
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: April 1, 1981
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2007/05108: CIA-RDP83-003858000200090020-0
3 April 1981
MEP10RANDUM FOR: Director FBIS
THROUGH Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT Monthly Report--Nicosia Bureau--Parch 1931
During Plarch the bureau set a new record for filed wordage since
it reopened in Nicosia in 1975--over 480,000 words. Across-the-board
Arabic, Persian and Greek-language coverage augmentation since the
beginning ,of the year, plus coverage from AFP of events in Poland and
a record-breaking plane hijacking incident which ended in Damascus,
accounted for the increase in wordage.
On 1 April the bureau activated the remoting of Athens radios
from the. Cyprus Telecommunications Authority's Pissouri antenna site
on the southern coast of Cyprus following signing of an initial one
year formal agreement.
A. Editorial/Monitorial
1. On 15 March and 24 March the bureau temporarily resumed
primary coverage of the clandestine Voice of Palestine radio 1100-1300
and 0500-0700 gmt broadcasts respectively, as those casts became unmoni-
torable at Jordan Bureau.
2. MAY, the weekly newspaper of the ruling Egyptian National
Democratic Party, commenced publication on 1 March. Articles in
initial issues, including a weekly article by President as-Sadat,
were heavily covered by MENA. The bureau is texting any MENA versions
of the first eight articles by As-Sadat to aid in determining whether
they should be added to mandatory texting requirements.
3. On 29 March the bureau became involved in a sample check
of the Iranian clandestine Voice of Iran Persian-language radio when
it became evident that reception of the 1805-1900 cast was better at
Nicosia than at Gulf Bureau, where the radio was first identified.
4. The bureau phonepatched part of a Tehran radio broadcast
to BBC on 16 March.
Approved Far Release 2007/05108: CIA-RDP83-003858000200090020-0
 Approved For Release 2007/05108: CIA-RDP83-003858000200090020-0
B. Lateral/Special Services
1. On 18 March Beirut Embassy requested the text of a Voice
of Hope radio statement by disaffected Lebanese Army Major Sa'd Haddad
calling for retaliation shelling of Southern Lebanon. Unfortunately,
the statement had not been monitored by Nicosia, as Haddad's radio,
broadcasting from an enclave in Lebanon, follows no set program
schedule. On 20 March, headquarters chimed in with a request--kicked
off by a Washington POST article on Haddad--to provide fullest coverage
possible of Haddad's utterances. The bureau's filed wordage for Voice
of Hope subsequently jumped from 1,000 words in February to 11,000 in
March.
2. During the month the bureau wirefiled sample program
summaries for two sets of Damascus TV videotapes sent from Tel Aviv
Bureau.
A. Senior Editor
for Brindisi.
has been designated standby editor STAT
B. Eloise Page visited the STAT
bureau on arc .
C. A State Department inspectors' team visited the bureau on
12 March.
D. Regional Engineer
17 February-8 Plarch.
STAT
E. Chief P1onitor
12-31 March.
visited Abdijan TDY STAT
Attachments:
A. Operations (including Production and Traffic Reports)
B. Engineering Report