THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 SEPTEMBER 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006466850
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: September 20, 1976

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/12 : CIA-RDP79T00024A000200060004-1
The President's Daily Brief
September 20, 1976
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Top S cret 25X1
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Exempt [mm general
declassification scheduk of E 0 11652
exemption category, 5B(I ),(2).(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/12 : CIA-RDP79T00024A000200060004-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/12 : CIA-RDP79T00024A000200060004-1
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
September 20, 1976
Table of Contents
China: The entire leadership appeared for Mao's funeral, but
strict protocol ranking offered no clues as to any change
in alignment. (Page 1)
Lebanon: The failure of yesterday's tripartite talks sharply
reduces prospects that the Syrians and Palestinians can
reach any accommodation without further fighting. (Page 2)
Sweden: With about 90 percent of the vote counted, Sweden's non-
socialist parties appear to have defeated Prime Minister
Palme's Social Democrats and their Communist allies in yes-
terday's election. (Page 3)
Notes: Panama; Thailand (Page 4)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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LATE ITEM
In Malta's parliamentary election, Prime Minister Mintoff's
Labor Party appears headed for a narrow victory. With 10 of
13 electoral districts unofficially counted, the opposition
-Nationalist Party seemed to have failed in its bid to turn
the island nation from Mintoff's neutralist foreign policy
toward a more pro-Western stance.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/12 : CIA-RDP79T00024A000200060004-1
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
CHINA: All active mem-
bers of the Politburo,
including those based
in the provinces, at-
tended the memorial
service for Mao on Sat-
urday in Peking's
Tienanmen square.
This was the first time since May
1971, when Mao last appeared pub-
licly, that the entire leadership
has been seen by the Chinese peo-
ple. The leaders were arranged
in strict protocol order, reveal-
ing no change in alignment.
Hua Kuo-feng, who was identified
by the two titles he has held
since April, first vice-chairman
of the party and premier, delivered
a twenty-minute eulogy. Hua's re-
marks, touching on all aspects of
the Chinese political scene, seemed
designed to placate civilian and
military leaders of every political
stripe and suggested that no sin-
gle faction had the upper hand in
drafting the statement.
Hua made a low-key reference to
the campaign criticizing the ousted
Teng Hsiao-ping, praised the
military, took several swipes
at the Soviet Union, and mentioned
the need to carry on Mao's revo-
lutionary foreign policy line--a
euphemism for the opening to the
US.
An abbreviated list of others who
attended the memorial service shed
no further light on the status of
several officials who have come
under attack in the course of the
anti-Teng campaign. Although nearly
all members of the Central Commit-
tee, including most province chiefs,
appeared in Peking during the
mourning period, very few were on
the list.
* * *
--continued
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
LEBANON: The failure
of yesterday's tripar-
tite talks at Shaturah,
Lebanon, sharply reduces
prospects that the
Syrians and Palestinians
can reach any accommo-
dation without further
fighting.
Soviet officials, in-
cluding Foreign Minis-
ter Gromyko, talked in
Moscow last week with
PLO political chief
Qaddumi.
President-elect Sarkis, Palestine
Liberation Organization chief
Yasir Arafat, and Syrian Deputy
Defense Minister Jamil have agreed
to meet again in Beirut on Septem-
ber 24 after Sarkis' inauguration,
but this announcement was probably
intended only to mask the fact
that their talks ended in dead-
lock.
Still another attempt to resolve
the Lebanese conflict may be un-
der consideration. An-Nahar, a
reputable and usually well-in-
formed Lebanese newspaper, re-
ported yesterday that Sarkis and
several other prominent Lebanese
leaders who have visited Cairo re-
cently are pressing for a four-
power Arab summit in Jidda to pro-
mote a reconciliation between
Egypt and Syria in the belief that
this would facilitate efforts to
end the Lebanese civil war.
We doubt that Sadat and Asad are
ready to put aside their differ-
ences. The newspaper article may
simply reflect the wishful think-
ing of some Lebanese leaders and
encouragement given them by the
Egyptians. Despite his probable
unwillingness to resolve his
guarrel with Asad, Sadat might be
receptive to the idea of such a
conference because it would place
him on a par with the Syrian Pres-
ident in seeking a Lebanese polit-
ical settlement.
Soviet press commentary over the
weekend suggests that the offi-
cials urged the Palestinians to
compromise in order to reach a
negotiated settlement in Lebanon.
Tass, in describing the talks,
stated that all Arab progressives
should cooperate to end the crisis.
--continued
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
SWEDEN: Prime Minister
Olof PaZme's Social Dem-
ocrats suffered their
first defeat in nearly
44 years in yesterday's
election.
Pravda emphasized the importance
of a political solution and made
no mention of the need for a Syr-
ian troop withdrawal. Previous
Soviet press commentary had
stressed the importance of a Syr-
ian withdrawal, and Soviet offi-
cials had taken the same line in
private.
The USSR is also in touch with
Syria. The Soviet representative
at the Geneva conference--who
customarily travels to the Middle
East during periods of Arab nego-
tiations--arrived in Syria on Fri-
day and talked with Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister
Khaddam on Saturday.
With approximately 90 percent of
the vote counted, the three non-
socialist parties appeared to have
won a clear majority, although the
final official tally will not be
known until midweek.
Computer projections give the Cen-
ter, Liberal, and Conservative par-
ties a total of 180 seats, against
169 for the Social Democrats and
their Communist Party allies, in
the 349-seat parliament. Swedish
election analysts claim the final
result is not likely to vary more
than one or two seats from the
computer projection.
Thorbjorn Falldin, chairman of the
Center Party, is almost certain to
be named prime minister if the non-
socialist parties can agree on a
coalition. Although the Centrists'
and Liberals' differences with the
Conservatives have thwarted coop-
eration in the past, recent state-
ments by the leaders of the three
parties suggest that they will
make every effort to put together
a government this time.
--continued
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
The Panamanian govern-
ment softened its ac-
cusation over the week-
end that US intelligence
services were behind
the recent protests
over price increases.
The return to Thailand
yesterday of former
prime minister Thanom
Kittakhachon may prompt
some student demonstra-
tions but is unlikely
to cause violence.
NOTES
The US citizen arrested by the
Panamanians is still being held.
No protest demonstrations occurred
as government officials met with
student leaders to explain the
country's economic situation. The
disturbances last week were the
largest anti-government protests
since General Torrijos came to
power in 1968.
* * *
Thanom's return, which was prompted
by the apparently imminent death
of his father, had been approved
by the government but limited to
seven days. Actually his stay is
likely to be indefinite unless it
leads to a repeat of the student
turmoil caused by General Praphat's
return last month. Thanom's accep-
tance as a monk within hours of his
arrival in Thailand should make
it difficult for leftist student
leaders to develop much support
for demonstrations.
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