THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 29 NOVEMBER 1974
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
0006007880
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
T
Document Page Count:
9
Document Creation Date:
August 14, 2016
Document Release Date:
August 24, 2016
Sequence Number:
Case Number:
Publication Date:
November 29, 1974
File:
Attachment | Size |
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DOC_0006007880.pdf | 232.37 KB |
Body:
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The President's Daily Brief
November 29, 1974
5
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Exempt from general
declassification uhedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category, 5B( 1),(2).(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
at, ril
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
November 29, 1974
? Table of Contents
Ethiopia: .The ruling military council has elected
General Teferi as its new chairman. (Page 1)
Egypt-Jordan-Fedayeen: Egyptian efforts to smooth
relations between Jordan and the PLO may be
achieving some .success. (Page 2)
Syria-UN: The mandate of the UN observer force on
?the Golan Heights is to be extended for another .
six months. (Page 3)
Vietnam: We have further information on communist
preparations for the coming dry season campaign.
(Page 4)
Notes: Syria-Israel; USSR; Saudi Arabia - Pakistan;
Mexico-Chile (Page 5)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
ETHIOPIA
The ruling military council yesterday
elected 52-year-old General Teferi Benti
as its new chairman. Teferi, who was com-
mander of the Second Division in Eritrea
Province, will act only as a figurehead.
Teferi became Second Division commander only
in October and lacks broad support either within
the division or within the armed forces.
Major Mengistu Hailemariam, the council's first
vice chairman, will still be operating behind the
scenes. He is not believed to control the council,
however, and his present assumption of a leading
role is by no means accepted by the armed forces as
a whole.
Opposition to the council's arbitrary tactics
is widespread, but the opponents are dispersed
throughout the military and seem to lack leadership,
organization, and a clear sense of purpose.
A spokesman for the military council denied to
the US embassy on Wednesday press reports that Haile
Selassie had been moved to a town outside Addis Ababa
to await execution. The spokesman said the deposed
emperor is still in the capital under guard for his
own protection.
The council also announced that there would be
no more summary executions, but held open the pos-
sibility that some former officials still under de-
tention would be executed after trial.
The council is proceeding with plans to send
reinforcements to fight the Eritrean Liberation
Front. The insurgents have refrained from large-
scale attacks for several months, but have neverthe-
less gained control of large parts of the Eritrean
countryside as a result of the government's inactivity.
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EGYPT-JORDAN-FEDAYEEN
Egyptian efforts to smooth relations
between Jordan and the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization may be achieving some
success. Salah KhaZaf, second in command
of Fatah and chief of the Black September
Organization/
/told a press conference
on November 27 that the PLO was "prepared
to give King Husayn's goodwill a chance."
Only a few days earZier, KhaZaf had said
that the plot to assassinate Husayn in
Rabat would not be the last.
The Egyptians take credit for Khalaf's turn-
about. An aide to Foreign Minister Fahmi told US
embassy officials the Egyptians had written the
statement Khalaf used at the press conference.
Whether the BSO leader maintains his newly adopted
moderation after he leaves Cairo remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, a PLO crackdown on extremists appears
to be under way.
The arrest by PLO security forces of a number of
fedayeen for alleged participation in the recent
hijacking of a British Airways VC-10 apparently is
part of this move.
In pressing for the crackdown, Yasir Arafat
said Fatah can no longer tolerate extremist and un-
disciplined activities within the fedayeen movement,
and that he would purge Fatah of all opposition to
his leadership.
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SYRIA-UN
The UN Security Council will this
afternoon formally extend the mandate
of the UN observer force on the Golan
Heights for another six months.
Resolution 338 calls upon the parties concerned
to commence peace negotiations under appropriate
auspices, which for Syria presumably means an early
resumption of the Geneva talks. The resolution
also urges implementation of Resolution 242, which
calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from
territories occupied in the 1967 war.'
The group of nonaligned countries at the UN
is preparing a draft resolution to meet Syria's
condition.
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VIETNAM
Reports from a variety, of sources
over the past several days have thrown
more light on communist preparations for
the 1974-75 dry season campaign. The new
information generally fits
'the
call for intense fighting beginning next
Month.
The coming offensive will be aimed primarily at
disrupting Saigon's pacification effort and inflict-
ing heavy losses on government forces'. The new re-
ports, many of which are captured documents and de-
fector interrogations, vary with regard to the an-
ticipated timing and intensity of the increase in
military action. In some 'areas, military planning
has been completed and the fighting Could begin with
little or no warning. In others, there are signs
that the communists will not launch large-scale at-
tacks until some time after mid-January.
Several documents captured in the delta allude
to "counter-pacification" efforts designed to elim-
inate the government presence in much of the countr
side.
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NOTES
Syria-Israel:
Saudi Arabia - Pakistan:
Mexico-Chile: Mexico's decision to sever rela-
tions with Chile was probably taken to curry favor
in the Third World by portraying Mexico as a philo-
sophical and political opposite of the Chilean mil-
itary junta. President Echeverria, moreover, was
friendly with the late president Allende and has
been decidedly cold toward the Pinochet government.
Mexico is also upset at the junta's refusal to allow
Chilean citizens such as Allende's sister to take
asylum in Mexico.
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Top Secret
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