CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1956/04/20

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02995604
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: October 25, 2019
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2019
• Publication Date: April 20, 1956

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/ CURRENT
/ INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
//7
715 -P E C.12
W/
20 April 1956
Copy No. 03
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
Li DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTH: HR 7
DATE)
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
EVIEVVER:
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CONTENTS
1. WEST GERMAN DIPLOMAT REPORTEDLY SAYS BONN
WOULD GIVE UP NATO FOR UNIFICATION
(page 3).
2. USSR ANNOUNCES NEW ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY FOR
NONMILITARY USES (page 4).
3. ICELANDIC POLITICIANS SEEN "CONFUSED" ON NATO
BASE PROBLEIO (page 5).
4. DAUD SUGGESTS US AND USSR SHARE WORK ON KABUL
AIRPORT (page 6).
5. CUBAN GOVERNMENT FEARS ARMY REVOLT
(page 7).
6. ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT ANTICIPATES PERONISTA
COUP ATTEMPT (page 8).
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* * * *
THE ARAB-ISRAELI SITUATION
(page 9)
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1. WEST GERMAN DIPLOMAT REPORTEDLY SAYS BONN
WOULD GIVE UP NATO FOR UNIFICATION
Georg Roehrig, first secretary of the
West German embassy in Moscow,
reportedly stated on 9 April that he
had been sent to Moscow for one rea-
son only: to spend all his time working for German reuni-
fication.
"If we have
to pay with our complete neutrality and withdrawal from
NATO, we will do so in order to obtain reunification�"
Comment
While German reunification may well be
the primary mission of the Federal
Republics embassy in Moscow, Roehrig's reported statement
on neutrality and withdrawal from NATO probably reflects
his personal opinion rather than official guidance from Bonn.
Although the present government gives no sign of considering
withdrawal from NATO, Bonn might adopt a policy of non-
alliance if it could thereby achieve reunification,
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2. USSR ANNOUNCES NEW ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
FOR NONMILITARY USES
Comment on;
The creation of a Chief Directorate
for the Use of Atomic Energy puts
the Soviet program to exploit atomic
energy for peaceful purposes on a
plane more nearly equal to that of the program for nuclear
weapons production
The new chief directorate, which is at-
tached to the Council of Ministers of the USSR,' is-charged,
among other duties, with administering the Soviet foreign
"atoms for peace" program. Under this program, the
USSR has already concluded agreements for nuclear assist-
ance with Communist China, the European Satellites, Yugo-
slavia and Egypt. Moscow has also made overtures to India,
Pakistan and Norway.
The impetus for creation of the new organ-
ization may have arisen from a need to co-ordinate the in-
creasing number of competing military and civilian demands
made on the Soviet supply of fissionable material. The chief
directorate may also resolve at the highest administrative
levels the problems arising from the extension of atomic
energy activities into a growing number of Soviet ministries.
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3. ICELANDIC POLITICIANS SEEN "CONFUSED" ON NATO
BASE PROBLEM
anish deputy foreign minister
hristiansen, who has just returned
rom a visit to Reykjavik, reports
hat he found a wide range of views
nd Social Democratic politicians re-
garding the Keflavik air base. All expressed a desire to
maintain strong NATO affiliations, but revealed divergent
views on the question of the Soviet threat and the problem
of maintaining an air base without troops.
Christiansen stated that "influential"
people in Iceland want to defer action until after the June
parliamentary election, when prospects for a moderate
settlement might be better. Icelandic foreign minister
Gudmundsson is reported to have told a Danish editor that
any action is unlikely before a year and a half, and that then
the situation might be radically changed.
Comment There is still a danger that the pres-
sures of the election campaign and wide-
spread chauvinism may force the government to take some
steps toward revision of the defense agreement with the United
States even before the June elections.
The Icelandic foreign minister is attend-
ing the semiannual meeting of Scandinavian foreign ministers
in Copenhagen, where he intends to discuss the question of the
base with his Norwegian and Danish counterparts. They can
be expected to discourage him from any drastic action.
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ELREll
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4. DAUD SUGGESTS US AND USSR SHARE WORK ON
KABUL AIRPORT
Afghan prime minister Daud promised
on 17 April that he would personally see
to implementation of an American offer
to develop Afghanistan's aviation. Daud
old the. merican charg�n Kabul that the job of reconstruct-
ing the key Kabul airport had been committed "in principle"
to the Soviet Union, but offered to let the US share in its con-
struction.
The prime minister added that he has
always preferred American aid and friendship and that he
would welcome US projects even in northern Afghanistan be-
cause there must be "no zones of influence" within the country.
Daud gave every indication that he considers
Soviet assistance to be politically harmless.
Comment Daud probably will encourage unrestricted
competition between the Soviet bloc and the
United States in the belief that expanded ties with both sides
will ensure Afghanistan's independence as well as its economic
development.
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5. CUBAN GOVERNMENT FEARS ARMY REVOLT
The Cuban government fears that
troops at Camp Columbia--the coun-
try's military nerve center--may rebel,
and has ordered all military personnel
at the camp restricted to quarters,
A "very uneasy situation" exists at the
camp, as a result of the detention on
18 April of high army officers suspected of being involved
in the recent military plot against the Batista government.
Comment
Disaffection within the military estab-
lishment may be spreading as a result
of the continuing arrests--some 240 to date--of influential
officers as well as enlisted men believed connected with the
military conspiracy which was suppressed on 3 April. This
conspiracy was reportedly motivated mainly by the arrested
officers' lack of respect for their superiors on professional
grounds and by discontent over their leaders' monopoly of
graft and similar prerequisites.
The plot marked the first defection within
the armed forces since General Batista seized power in March
1952, and the first significant threat to the stability of the re-
gime since the abortive Santiago uprising of July 1953. Thus
far Batista appears to retain the loyalty of the majority of the
armed forces and to be capable of controlling the situation.
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6. ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT ANTICIPATES PERONLSTA.
COUP ATTEMPT
The Argentine government has infor-
mation that Peronista elements plan
coup on or about 21 April,
Chis attempt, believed to be centered in
Rosario, about zut.) miles northwest of Buenos Aires, is ex-
pected to have "wider ramifications" than the recent one in
Mendoza, but the government is confident of suppressing it.
The government believes that over 80 percent of the armed
forces are loyal.
the
government is firmly in control despite the persistent rumors
of military discontent and bickering among government lead- �
ers.
Comment
Peronista elements plan a new and better
co-ordinated revolutionary attempt. Information is lacking
on their leadership and capabilities, but the plotters probably
include some retired military men.
The majority of the-armed forces are be-
lieved to oppose a return of the Peronistas to power, but
serious differences among the military over government pol-
icies have been reported.
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oak FEN:L-SE ET
THE ARAB-ISRAELI SITUATION
(Information as of 1700, 19 April)
Egypt and Israel agreed to enforce a
cease-fire on their borders, effective at 6 p. m. on 18 April,
according to an announcement by UN secretary general Hammar-
skjold. The agreement includes a prohibition on shooting or
movement across the demarcation line by regular or irregular
forces. While serious and immediate causes of friction should
be alleviated by this development, an atmosphere of watchful
waiting prevails. (Press)
The
possibility of trouble on the Jordan border is raised by an Israeli
charge that a water pipeline near the Jordan border was blown ur
in three places on 18 April, the second sabotage incident in this
sector in three days. Meanwhile, Jordan claimed a member of
the Home Guard was killed in a clash with an Israeli patrol inside
Jordan
Tel Aviv, despite the release of a small number of individuals
from active duty, units called up during last week's crisis have
not been demobilized. Roadblocks and patrols remain in effect.
The immediate public reaction in Israel to
the Soviet announcement of readiness to assist in efforts toward
an Arab-Israeli peace was mixed, according to the American em-
bassy in Tel Aviv. While there was some guarded hope that the
development represented a break in recent Soviet support of the
Arabs, and favored prospects for peace, most comment favored
reservation of iudgment pending concrete evidence of Soviet good
faith.
The Egyptian press hailed the Soviet state-
ment as further isolating British policy in the Near East and
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countering prospects for unilateral Western intervention in the
Near East crisis. The reaction among Palestine Arab refugees,
however, was unfavorable. Refugee leaders in Lebanon charac-
terized the statement as a "stab in the back" and accused the
USSR of deceit. Members of the Lebanese parliamentary for-
eign affairs committee also expressed dissatisfaction with the
statement since it recognized the existence of Israel. The Syrian
minister of defense also criticized the statement, commenting
that the great powers should realize that the Palestine question
is the concern of the Arabs alone. (Press)
Cairo authorized the Egyptian
arms naission in Prague to increase its orders for additional bloc
arms to the equivalent of $84,000,000. Previous Egyptian contracts
have amounted to at least $160,000,000.
1957 deliveries in connection with these additional orders,
which constitute "part one" of the extended Egyptian requirements
list. The "part one" suggests that Egypt intends eventually to or-
der still more Soyiet bloc military equipment,
10 Soviet-made 1L-14 twin-piston-engined transport aircraft will
be delivered from Prague to Egypt in the very near future. These
planes are to be flown Ijv Effyntian crews�possibly with Soviet
crews as passengers. i
Greece had granted permission to land and refuel the planes
at Athens.
(---
Aviv, all 12 of the Mystere IV jet fighters from France now appear
to have arrived in Israel.
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