THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 24 SEPTEMBER 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977698
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 24, 1970

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A008700220001-7
The President's Daily Brief
24 September 1970
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
24 September 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The situation in Jordan is discussed on Page 1.
Vietnamese Communist activity is increasing in Cam-
bodia (Page 5)
\North Vietnam
/Laos. (Page 6)
In Chile, the commander of the air force has claimed
that the armed forces are prepared to prevent an
Allende government if a legal excuse can be found.
(Page 7)
L\Bolivia
/ (Page 8)
Moscow is expecting a record grain harvest this year.
(Page 9)
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JORDAN: Current Situation
Haifa
Tiberias
'GOLAN HEIGHTS
Lake
#
'Iberia- (Israeli-oc;upied)
Janin
(#1
battalions
1
Strategicicrossroads
captureil by Jordan-
ian trckps
Ajluni -
SYRIA
Syriain forces with-
draw across border
?Rar'a
RaMtha .
Mafraq
s7Tel Aviv-.
Yafo
/
/Ramia*.N. X Ram 1
AIloh. Jericho
t
WEST BANK
(Israeli -occupied)
Suwaylit Zarqa
*AMMAN
J rusalm
Armistice. Line .
- Bethlehem
?I ? .Hebron ? .
\
Dead
Sea.
Beersheba
ISRAEL
.Dimona
10
MILES
550082 9-70 CIA
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JORDAN
all Syrian forces
have now withdrawn across the border although they
remain close enough to return to Jordan quickly if
they want to do so.
The Syrian-backed
Hittin Brigade of the Palestine Liberation Army
(PLA), under the command of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), has repIaced the Syrians in
Jordan.
Syrian withdrawal seems to have been only
partially due to Zack of success in the
fighting, however. Syria was probably
extremely nervous that the US or Israel
would intervene.
The Syrians
may have realized, too, that they could
not keep up the fiction that their troops
were only Palestinian; by replacing regu-
lar troops with a PLA unit, they may be
hoping to legitimize their intervention
and still prevent an all-out victory
against the fedayeen.
(continued)
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
In the wake of the Syrian withdrawal, the Jorda-
nians have launched a heavy attack on Irbid, using an
armored brigade and two infantry battalions. Governor
General Majali announced yesterday that Jordanian
troops captured the Ramtha-Irbid-Mafraq crossroads,
the key to the supply route from Syria, and were in
control of Zarqa.
In Amman 1-hp armv continued clearing operations.
, a confidant of King Husayn,
L.11= aLmy L1b uiscovete 300 fedayeen strongpoints,
and has taken some 8,000 prisoners--a figure which
probably includes a large number of noncombatant
fedayeen sympathizers. the number of
casualties appears to be much lower than press re-
ports suggest.
Iraqi activity continues to be minimal and
seems to be precautionary.
The "agreement" announced over Amman radio yes-
terday by King Husayn and Salah Khalaf, number two
man in the PLO, has been rejected by Yasir Arafat and
by Cairo officials of the PLO, according to press re-
ports. They claim that Khalaf and the three other
PLO leaders captured several days ago by the Jorda-
nians had no authority to enter into such an agree-
ment.
Meanwhile, the kings and presidents resumed
their discussions in Cairo last night and planned to
meet again today. The four-man conciliation commit-
tee sent to Amman has returned, accompanied by the
four PLO leaders who were released by King Husayn
after the "agreement" was announced. Sudanese Presi-
dent Numayri, chairman of the conciliation committee,
said his group "blessed" the agreement between Husayn
and the PLO leaders and appealed to both sides to
cease hostilities. Inasmuch as the agreement so
totally supports Husayn's position, its approval by
the delegation is somewhat surprising.
(continued)
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There has been no official word on the hostages,
but was informed on 22
September by a "good source" that all were safe.
The source said that the hostages had been removed
from Amman before the outbreak of fighting and were
being held elsewhere in Jordan in groups of about
six, apparently under close guard by the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine. According
to press reports, the commandos have announced that
the captives are being held in the "liberated zone"
of north Jordan. The sources said that all of the
hostages were "believed" to be safe.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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Current Situation
THAILAND
-14-
-10?
B A T- T-A
Battamlikrn
increases'
m
nh-
SOUT H
Komponom
, (Sihanoukville)
GULF-
;OF
THAILAND
0
amps..it
*Saigon
VIETNAM
?12-
Cambodia
Principal city (10,000 or over)
Population over 125 per sq. mi. I
Communist-controlled area
MILES
550081 9-70 CIA
) 04
106
SOUTH
'CHINA SEA
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CAMBODIA
the Commu-
nists have been infiltrating outlying areas of the
hitherto quiet Battambang Province since early Sep-
tember, propagandizing and requisitioning supplies.
Communist forces have been reported operatidg as
close as three miles to the railway town of Moung,
on Route 5, and some residents are fleeing. Thus
far, however, the only significant enemy attacks in
the province have occurred in an area between 20
and 30 miles northeast of the well-defended Battam-
bang city.
The government land drive north to Kompong Thom
is still being slowed by sporadic Communist harass-
ing fire. The column has now been reorganized into
four task forces. Three of them, one on Route 6 and
one to either flank, are advancing toward Tang Kouk
village along a front of almost four miles.
An intercepted message from COSVN's Stra-
tegic Intelligence Bureau to one of its
associates indicates that the Communists
are sensitive to the opportunities for
annihilating a number of Cambodian units"
presented by the Kompong Thom operation.
The message does not necessarily mean,
however, that they will undertake large-
scale attacks against the 8,000 - 10,000-
man Cambodian force backed with air sup-
port.
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NORTH VIETNAM
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CHILE
The head of the Chilean Air Force, General
Carlos Guerraty, has told the US Embassy in Santiago
that the armed forces and national police are pre-
pared to prevent Allende from assuming the presidency
if they can find a constitutional pretext that would
elicit the support of the troops in all the services.
He asserted that within six months Allende would de-
stroy the armed forces as they now exist. Guerra-by
emphasized that the move must be made within ten
days. He added, however, that if the US could pro-
vide money, votes could be bought to defeat Allende
in Congress on 24 October.
Guerraty 's previous efforts to
arouse military resistance to Allende have
not elicited much response. The mili-
tary's reluctance to move stems in part
from fear of violence from Allende backers.
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BOLIVIA
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A policeman and two students have
been killed, and the students hold four policemen
as hostages. On Monday, the day of the greatest
violence to date, students attacked the US Embassy
in La Paz.
The arrest and deportation of five left-
ist clergymen on 16 September touched off
the latest demonstrations. Ovando is not
bowing to leftist demands that he rescind
these actions, but his announcement that
security forces will respect university
autonomy could be unpopular with the right.
Military and police officials have long
wanted an excuse to raid the university
in La Paz, which they believe serves as
a base for subversive activity, and now
are likely to press Ovando to allow them
to enter it to free the police hostages.
Although such a move would intensify the
student protest movement and might prompt
labor to join the conflict, any sign that
the President is weakening in the face of
the violence could trigger the long-
awaited showdown between himself and the
military.
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USSR
Agriculture Minister Matskevitch has predicted
a harvest of "about 180 million tons of grain,"
which would be the largest in Soviet history.
Poor weather during the next two weeks could set
back the harvest, but the weather is now good and
the outlook is favorable for at least the next
few days.
If the Soviets achieve this record har-
vest, the usable output--145-150 million
tons?would be 10-15 percent above the
average level in 1966-69. It would en-
able the Soviets to maintain current
grain reserve levels, to meet domestic
needs for high-quality bread, and to
relieve the meat shortage by allocating
more grain to feed livestock. The So-
viets would be able to maintain their
present shipments to Eastern Europe, as
well as to Egypt, Cuba, North Vietnam,
and North Korea, their major non-European
clients.
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Top Secret
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