CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1952/03/20

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
02692609
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
U
Document Page Count: 
7
Document Creation Date: 
May 24, 2019
Document Release Date: 
May 30, 2019
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
March 20, 1952
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULL[15638364].pdf266.68 KB
Body: 
Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 C62692609 '1U1-' SEC INFORMATION 20 March 1952 Copy No, 4 9 3.5(c) CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN DOCUMENT NO. (1...,_Z"' NO CHANGE iN CLASS. Pc. Di-2CLASSIFIE0 t:EXT TOL:VIEW nAl-r. CLASS. CHANGE� TO: 73 S Clow& AUTHi. 3.5(c) Office of Current Intelligence CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 3.5(c) TOPS SECU NFORMATION Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 Nur SUMMARY NEAR EAST - AFRICA I. Iranian general denounces National Front tactics (page 3). 2. France supports Britain in dispute with Saudi Arabia (page 3). 3. Egyptian Ambassador recommends allaying Jewish fears (page 4). 4. creek Government may fall on issue of executing Communists (page 5). WESTERN EUROPE 5. Russian jets"buzz"British plane in Austrian air corridor (page 6). 6. French High Commissioner stresses growing alarm over German rearmament (page 6). 7. Schuman and Adenauer expected to reach agreement on Saar issue (page 7). * * * * TC3' SECT 3.5(c) 3.5(c) 3.5(c) Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 ToC:s. SECRET 3.5(c) NEAR EAST - AFRICA 1. Iranian general denounces National Front tactics: 3.3(h)(2) The Commanding General of the Third Division at Tabriz, in Azerbaijan, has protested to Tehran over the actions of the governors and legal investigators appointed by the. National ron e stated that these officials issue orders which interfere with thus discrediting it in the public eye. The general suggested that those army officers who had been transferred during the elections at the instigation of the National Front should be returned to their former posts in order to show the army's strength, and that the attacks of those who extol Mossadeq and Kashani but never mention the Shah "should be brought to an end." The general prefaced his report by explaining that if he did not plainly express his views he would be "disloyal to the Shah and the country." the army's duties, Comment: This is the strongest statement of military loyalty made in recent months and bears out the estimate of the American Embassy in Tehran that the army has continued loyal to the Shah. 3.3(h)(2) nevertheless, that the army has repeatedly given in to government pressure, particularly in regard to control of the elections. 2. France supports Britain in dispute with Saudi Arabia: The French Foreign Office believes that British, French and American interests in the Iraq Petroleum Company would be "greatly compromised in the future" if the Persian Gulf territories in dispute between Britain and SaudiArabia were to be occupied by Saudi Arabian forces. France considers King Ibn Saud's territorial claims "excessive." - 3 - 3.3(h)(2) TOP ET "-Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 3.5(c) rApproved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 roJ-SECRET 3.5(c) The Foreign Office re-emphasized the importance France attaches to the delineation of the boundary between Saudi Arabia and the British-protected Trucial Sheikhdoms. It directed its embassy in London to assure the British Foreign Office of France's full support and promises to furnish the British with useful documentation. Comment: 3.3(h)(2) there is cons ide territorial claims. There is also no evidence to date that Saudi Arabia plans to occupyjhedismit fr rit- an agreement to 3.3(h)(2) be reached. Ibn Saud's fear that a newly organized British-trained police force within the Sheikhdoms might threaten Saudi Arabia's interests in the Gulf area. Anglo-Saudi Arabian negotiations to define the boundary between Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf Trucial Sheikhdoms were suspended in mid-February after barely three weeks duration. British and French interest in territorial claims of the Sheikhdoms are based in part on the fact that the Iraq Petroleum's concessionary rights apply to all the territory belonging to the Sheikhs. The Arabian American Oil Company, however, has exclusive rights in Saudi Arabian territory. Egyptian Ambassador recommends allaying Iewish fears: The Egyptian Ambassador in Washington has advised his government not to base a solution of the Anglo-Egyptian problem on the Arab collective security pact, which the Israelis consider aimed at them. He advises the separation of the Anglo-Egyptian and Israeli problems in order to allay the fears and suspicions of "influential Jewry in the world," which, he believes, would otherwise be an obstacle to the realization of Egyptian national aspirations. -4 3.3(h)(2; 3.5(( Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 3.5(c) EXCRET The Ambassador also urges that the Israelis be made to realize that "a contented Fgypt with its political problems with Britain satisfactorily solved" would contribute to Israeli security and to the solution of Israel's "many thorny problems." � Comment: Some Arab officials are suggesting that the Arab League's collective security pact might provide a basis for solving the defense of the Suez Canal region. The Israeli Government has feared that Western efforts to settle the Anglo-Egyptian dispute through the proposed Middle East Command might strengthen the Arab States and thereby threaten Israel's security. 4. Greek Government may fall on issue of executing Commuhists: 3.3(h)(2) � Acting Prime Minister Venizelos is certain that the issue of whether to execute eight condemned Communists will cause thefl fall of the EPEK-Liberal coalition government within - a week or ten days. He is determined, however, to follow the recom- mendations of the Board of Pardons, whose report is expected by 22 March. After conferring with influential EPEK leaders, Venizelos predicted that twenty to thirty EPEK deputies would resign if the executions were carried out. Comment: There has been dissension in EPEK over the possible execution of the leaders of the Communist spy ring recently sentenced to death by a Greek court. One of the EPEK's aims is to attract the extreme left;' therefore, it does not want to share responsibility for the executions in view of the inevitability of new elections. TOP RET Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 002692609 3.5(c; Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 3.5(c) WESTERN EUROPE 5. Russian jets "buzz" British plane in Austrian air corridor: The British High Commissioner in Austria has delivered a strong protest to the Soviet Headquarters against the interception of a British plane by Soviet jet-fighters on 16 March. The plane, which was checking radio controls within the authorized air corridor between the British zone and Vienna, was twice approached by Russian jets near Wiener Neustadt, and shots were fired in its "vicinity" during the second interception. The American Air Attache asserts that range checking within flight corridors is a normal operation and does not require prior notification. Comment: This incident closely follows Western rejection of a Russian proposal to shift the air corridor away from Wiener Neustadt, whose Soviet air installations are subject to air observation. The Soviet High Commissioner warned at that time that the Western powers would have to suffer the consequences of this rejection. 6. French High Commissioner stresses growing alarm over German rearmament: 3.3(h)(2) The French representative had pointed out to McCloy that the great distance France has travelled in less than four years toward American policy on Germany had "alarmed French opinion." He had also emphasized French doubts as to how far the US proposes to go in the development of German military power. - 6 - TOP ET 3.3(h)(2; 3.5(c) Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609 TOP SECRET 3.5(c) Comment: The considerable sentiment among pro-government deputies in the French National Assembly against Foreign Minister Schuman's inclusion in the Pinay cabinet indicated the extent of dissatisfaction with French concessions to American foreign policy. 7. Schaman and Adenauer expected to reach agreement on Saar issue: A French Foreign Office spokesman expects Foreign Minister Schuman and Chancellor Adenauer to issue a conciliatory statement on the Saar after their present talks, during which the two may agree to drop the Saar question from the agenda of the Council of Europe Ministers' Committee. 3.3(h)(2) The British Ambassador in Paris told the American Charge that Foreign Secretary Eden is making an informal approach to both Adenauer and Schuman on the Saar issue. Comment: The French have taken steps to avoid open discussion of the Saar by the Council. If the case should reach the Council, the pro-French Saar Government is prepared to present a rebuttal of the German position. Adenauer's request to the German press to avoid emphasizing the problem and his Deputy Foreign Minister's recent public statement that the Council of Europe would not be asked to discuss the matter are additional indications of a desire to reach an agreement with Schuman. 7 3.5(c' Approved for Release: 2019/05/08 CO2692609