CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1954/09/16

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03000942
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: August 20, 2019
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2019
• Publication Date: September 16, 1954

Approved for Release: 2019/08/13 C03000942,
16 September 1954
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
Copy No.
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS
I I DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE: 2440 ,
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE: / 3Sn tit KygwER:
Office of Current Intelligence
. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
,/
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
1. Soviet military aid program for Afghanistan reported (page 3).
2. Comment on Soviet Foreign Ministry's statement on SEAP (page 3).
SOUTHEAST ASIA
3.
4. Laos refuses to help remove Vietnamese from Thailand (page 5),
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
5. Comment on Nasr regime's deteriorating relations with Moslem
Brotherhood (page 5).
LATIN AMERICA
6. Comment on Chilean president's request for extraordinary powers
(page 6).
16 Sept 54
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GENERAL
1. Soviet military aid program for Afghanistan reported:
The USSR has established a military aid
nrogram for Afghanistan. according to
who
received this report from the
The money--equivalent to $5,000,000--
will be spent primarily for Czech weapons and an "unknown portion"
will be used to build factories for producing military equipment.
Comment: On 22 August, Czechoslovakia
extended a $5,000,000 long-term credit to Afghanistan for Czech
products and some industrial construction. The American embassy
in Kabul also reported on 5 August that the Afghans were negotiating
for an unspecified amount of Czech small arms, automatic weapons,
artillery shells and light tanks, probably on credit terms. The
report probably was based on rumors of
tnese negottauons.
Since the close of World War. II, the USSR
has given no direct military aid to any non-Communist government
2. Commant on Soviet Foreign Ministry's statement on SEAP:
The Soviet Foreign Ministry's attack on the
Manila Conference and the Southeast Asian
Pact places the official seal of approval on
propaganda dealing with these topics which emanated from Moscow
both before and after the conclusion of the Manila Treaty on 9 Septem-
ber. This mildly worded pronouncement is designed to force changes,
or at least indecision and inaction, in the policies of the countries
which have signed the treaty or might do so.
The fact that the statement was made by the
Soviet Union rather than Communist China, which is more directly
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a.
involved, makes it noteworthy as another expression of the USSR's
pre-eminent role as the leader of the Communist movement.
The statement appears to be intended
specifically to undermine support for SEAP in Southeast Asia by
arousing fears that the "non-Asian" Manila pact is an incursion of
colonialism in a new form. Through other media the USSR has al-
ready pointed out that SEAP, like EDC, must be ratified to become
effective.
The statement is also designed to discourage
any other Colombo powers from adhering to the pact. The statement
attempts to exploit Prime Minister Nehru's hostility toward SEAP and
points to the Sino-Indian and Sino-Burmese "nonaggression" declara-
tions in late June as the auidine principles for security in Asia.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
3.
16 Sept 54
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J. 'V 1
Nioe
4. Laos refuses to help remove Vietnamese from Thailand:
The Laotian foreign minister informed
the American charg�n Vientiane on
11 September that his country would
neither "take back" the 60,000 Vietnamese
refugees in northeast Thailand nor permit them to travel across
Laos to Vietnam. He suggested sea transportation as the most feasi-
ble means of repatriating the Vietnamese.
Comment: Thai, Vietnamese, and American
officials meeting in Bangkok on 21 August agreed that the repatriation
of the refugees was a matter of urgency and that the participation of
Laos in a joint operation would greatly facilitate their removal. Fail-
ure to obtain this support would mean that any evacuation would have
to be accomplished either by airlift or by rail to the embarkation port
of Bangkok, which would severely tax Thailand's resources.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
Comment on Nasr regime's deteriorating relations with Moslem
rotherhood:
The Nasr regime's decree on 13 September
that in future the Egyptian government will
write all Friday sermons used in the mosques
throughout the country climaxes the recent deterioration in the regime's
relations with the Moslem Brotherhood and suggests that serious
clashes with this extremist religio-political group may be imminent.
The decree follows an increasing number of
open clashes during the past three months between the Brotherhood
and the regime at Friday services. The government has only lately
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announced such incidents and tends to minimize the casualties
The Brotherhood and the regime have now
apparently emerged from the period of uneasy armed truce which be-
gan in March, and a contest of strength is likely to follow. This
fanatical organization has an estimated 500,000 members and cells
throughout the Arab world. With a tradition of terrorist action, it is
capable of seriously harassing the regime.
LATIN AMERICA
Comment on Chilean president's request for extraordinary powers:
President Ibanez' request of 13 September to
the Chilean Congress for extraordinary powers
for six months because of the "moral disinte-
gration of the country" may be the first step
toward a dictatorship. The powers requested would allow the executive
to censor the press and restrict the right of assembly, to make arrests
without warrant, and to reorganize any government agency whose workers
strike.
Ibanez lacks a majority in either house of
Congress, where there is already strong opposition to his request. On
31 July, he told Ambassador Beaulac that if Congress refused any re-
quest by him for special powers to combat critical economic and polit-
ical problems, he would dissolve it and rule by decree.
Striking copper workers have defied a back-to-
work order issued by the government. The government is now conscript-
ing workers and has announced that those refusing to work will be court-
martialed.
Meanwhile, the Chilean Workers Central,
which includes all important labor unions, has threatened to call a
nationwide strike if Ibanez is granted special powers or if any copper
workers are detained.
16 Sept 54
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