CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1956/06/15

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03015162
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: October 25, 2019
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2019
• Publication Date: June 15, 1956

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CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
15 June 1956
Copy No. 103
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
DIICLASSI'r'IED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS Sjitao.L.
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTH. HR
DATE. REVIEWER: jj
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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4
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-rut - ILIU I
CONTENTS
1. SYRIAN ARMS SHIPMENT TO ALGERIAN REBELS
SCHEDULED TO BEGIN ON 14 JUNE
(page 3).
2. EAST GERMAN REGIME DISTURBED OVER SPECIAL CHURCH
SERVICE CALLED FOR 17 JUNE ANNIVERSARY
(page 4).
3. CZECH PARTY LEADER SCORES DISSIDENT EXCESSES
(page 5).
4. HUNGARIANS RELEASE BELA KOVACS
(page 6) .
5. NASR TO WARN NEHRU AGAINST OPENING DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL (page 7).
6. EGYPT TO SUPPORT COMMUNIST CHINA IN UN VOTES
(page 8).
7. AFGHAN KING'S ILLNESS DELAYS MEETING
� WITH PAKISTANI PRESIDENT (page b)
8. THAILAND TO PERMIT NONSTRATEGIC TRADE WITH
COMMUNIST CHINA (page 10).
9, COMMUNIST ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL TRENDS IN LAOS
(page 11).
10. GROWING POLITICAL DISSENSION IN INDONESIA
(page 12).
15 June 56
* * * *
THE ARAB-ISRAELI SITUATION
(page 13)
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TOTI-SEreRE:i
SYRIAN ARMS SHIPMENT TO ALGERIAN REBELS
SCHEDULED TO BEGIN ON 14 JUNE
a plane "for the trans-
port of the arms and ammunition"
would arrive in Damascus "on Thurs-
llowing "on Friday:' A third aircraft
is to come "after the 18 June celebrations marking the
final evacuation of Suez by the British.
Comment
the
12-ton shipment of arms and ammuni-
tion which the Syrian chief of staff promised some time ago
to make available to the Algerian rebels.
- the shipment was to be
collected in Syria on 28 May and transported to an unspeci-
fied destination, in four flights on consecutive days.
15 June 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin
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2. EAST GERMAN REGIME DISTURBED OVER SPECIAL
CALLED FOR 17 JUNE ANNIVERSARY
East German officials are concerned
because they see no way to prevent spe-
cial church services in Dessau on
Sunday, 17 June--third anniversary
upr sings�at which Bishop Dibelius, the anti-
ommunist head of the Evangelical Church in East Germany,
is to preach.
the regime
could stop a demonstration outside the church, but could not
forbid a church service on Sunday. the party could
not behave as if the church and its divine services "are in a
position to overthrow the republic!'
the regime is prepared to cut off all financial aid to the church
if the service is held.
Comment The East German regime has a chronic
fear of popular uprisings and probably is
concerned over the possibility of special services throughout
East Germany.
The church still has considerable influ-
ence in East Germany, where about 80 percent of the popula-
tion are Protestants. It has held meetings in the past to
protest against regime policies and actions, and attendance
at church services has become a form of political protest.
15 June 56
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 4
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CONFIDENTIAL
nftre
3. CZECH PARTY LEADER SCORES DISSIDENT EXCESSES
In a militant speech to the Czech party
conference on 11 June, First Secretary
Antonin Novotny virtually admitted the
existence of widespread confusion and discontent� within the
party. He warned that continued transgressions against the
party line would not be tolerated. Novotny declared that the
call by more than 2,000 party organizations for another party
congress was "unjustified and incorrect" because no revision
in the basic policy decisions of the June 1954 party congress
is necessary. He added that the central committee is capa-
ble of solving the present admittedly grave problems.
Novotny stated that the government and
party intend to take a firm stand with dissident elements of
the population, scored students and writers for "unprincipled
liberalism," and flatly rejected suggestions from newspaper
readers that the press be independent of party control.
Novotny did indicate, however, that some
limited concessions, not affecting party control, will be
granted. The regime, for example, plans a program of ex-
tensive administrative reforms with major emphasis on wide-
spread decentralization, greater responsibility for lower party
organs, and a simplification in the administrative structure.
15 June 56
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4. HUNGARIANS RELEASE BELA KOVACS
A Hungarian provincial newspaper
announced on 10 June that Bela Kovacs,
former Smallholders Party general
secretary, had been pardoned by the
dential council and that no further crimi-
nal proceedings shall be initiated against him. The article
stated that Kovacs had been sentenced by a Soviet court in
1947 for crimes against the USSR and that he recently had
been handed over by Soviet authorities to Hungarian offi-
cials after serving part of his sentence in the USSR.
Comment Bela Kovacs was one of the most promi-
nent anti-Communist politicians in
Eastern Europe and was one of the leaders of the opposi-
tion to the Communist takeover in Hungary. Hungary has
released nearly all imprisoned Social Democrats and a
number of minority party figures.
A prerequisite to Kovacs' release may
have been a promise not to oppose regime policies. This
appears to have been the case with Archbishop Groesz, who
has recently made some favorable comments about the re-
gime. Cardinal Mindszenty reportedly continues under
"house detention" because of his unwillingness to make this
compromise.
15 June 56
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5. NASR TO WARN NEHRU AGAINST OPENING DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL
Egyptian premier Nasr intends to re-
mind Indian prime minister Nehru--
when he passes through Cairo in June
on his way to the Commonwealth con-
ference in London--that any rapproche-
men w en n a and Israel: would compel the Arab states
to review their relations with India. The Arab states would
give outright support to Pakistan instead of displaying neutral-
ity as at present in connection with Indo- Pakistani problems.
Comment
Nehru will probably be influenced by
Nasris argument since he has no desire
to antagonize eight Arab nations in exchange for the friend-
ship of Israel.
15 June 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin
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6. EGYPT TO SUPPORT COMMUNIST CHINA IN UN VOTES
"Egypt's posi-
tion at the UN and in its councils in re-
gard to China is consonant with its recog-
nition of the People's Republic of China
u si a organization"
Comment Egypt's earliest chance to cast a vote
favorable to Peiping will be at the Inter-
national Labor Organization's general conference now meeting
in Geneva.
15 June 56
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7. AFGHAN KING'S ILLNESS DELAYS MEETING WITH
PAKISTANI PRESIDENT
The meeting between Pakistan's President
Mirza and Afghanistan's King Zahir Shah
which was scheduled to begin in Kabul on 18
June has been postponed because of the -king's
illness. The Pakistani charg�n Kabul, who
was officially requested on 14 June to delay
Mirza's visit until some'time' in *July,- believes
King Zahir's illness is real and that the king
may be suffering from typhoid or typhus.
The charge states that the Afghan government
had been making extensive preparations' for The. vigil It did not
announce the king's illness until four days after his fever began.
Since President Mirza is scheduled to make an
official visit to Turkey from 15 to 24 July and various dignitaries are
to visit Kabul this summer, the meeting may have to be postponed
until late summer.
15 June 56
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C(IINTIDEIN1 1AL
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8. THAILAND TO PERMIT NONSTRATEGIC TRADE WITH
COMMUNIST CHINA
The Thai government has decided to
remove nonstrategic goods, incruding
rice and timber, from the list of com-
modities it undertook not to export to
Communist China under the UN embargo resolution. Thai-
land's two other major exports, rubber and tin, remain
among the proscribed items.
This action follows a campaign of several
months' duration by certain Thai officials and Bangkok mer-
chants to induce Premier Phibun to relax restrictions on
trade with China. Phibun's opposition to these pressures was
almost certainly weakened seriously, when Great Britain
lifted the ban on the export of rubber to China from Malaya
and Singapore.
This relaxation of Thailand's strict con-
trols on trade with Communist China does not indicate an im-
minent shift in the Thai policy of close relations with the West.
The Thai foreign minister has assured the American charg�
in Bangkok that his government will continue to withhold recog-
nition of Peiping unless Communist China is admitted into the
United Nations,
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9. COMMUNIST ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL TRENDS IN LAOS
tfie primarST problem of the Laotian government is a large buctget
defi � � in its corn lete dependence on American
aid, the strong pressure from with-
in the governmen or a se ment with the Pathet Lao. He
stated that eight cabinet members have "demanded that the gov-
ernment should settle its problems" with the Pathet Lao.
Comment
The Communists can be expected to insist
on at least equal footing with the West in
Laos as well as "reintegration" of Pathet Lao personnel into
army and political positions, in exchange for a promise of
"restoration" of government administration over the two Pathet
Lao provinces.
The Laotian premier has accepted Chou
En-lars invitation to visit Peiping later this year, and Chou will
probably extend an aid offer at that time.
15 June 56
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10, GROWING POLITICAL DISSENSION IN INDONESIA
Recent reports from Indonesia suggest
that the political "honeymoon" which has
existed since the present government was
formed last March is coming to an end.
Heretofore, the three major parties repre-
sented in the cabinet--the National Party, the Nandlatul Ulama
and the Masjumi--have made a determined effort to maintain
an attitude of harmonious co-operation. Recently, however,
a member of the moderate, pro-West Masjumi told American
officials that his party had been effectively isolated by the other
two, and that at some point it would be "forced to stand and
fight." In this connection, there have been growing reports of
inter-party friction within the cabinet, particularly in the mat-
ter of patronage, and that the Masjumi is receiving a dispro-
portionately small share of the spoils.
Meanwhile, the American embassy in
Djakarta has indicated that public disillusionment with the
government's inability to deal effectively with the country's
serious security and economic problems is increasing.
15 June 56
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110
THE ARAB-ISRAELI SITUATION
(Information as of 1700, 14 June)
The Cairo press reported on 13 June that Egypt
has contracted with Rumania and the USSR for 300,000 tons
of kerosene from each country. This latest agreement brings
total Egyptian contracts for kerosene from the Soviet bloc to
about 900,000 tons thus far this year, roughly three times Cairo's
imports of kerosene from the bloc in 1955. The agreement
probably reflects increased requirements for both military and
civilian uses and a reduction in imports from Western sources.
(Prepared by ORR)
15 June 56
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