CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/04/21

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Keywords: 2018 Sanitization
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03161759
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: April 21, 1957

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21 April 1957
Copy No., 134
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DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED 7-3: � '5
NEXT FIEVIEW D ATE-
FIR 70-2
DATE'?"
REVIEWER;
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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V
CONTENTS
V I
1, THE SITUATION IN JORDAN
/k2. SOVIET NOTE ON THE MIDDLE EAST
(page 5).
PI 3. MA OS' VIEWS ON CYPRUS ISSUE
(page 3).
4. FIRST SHIPMENT OF CHINESE COMMUNIST AID TO
CAMBODIA UNDER WAY (page 7).
21 Apr 57
(page 6).
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1. THE SITUATION IN JORDAN (As of 2100,21 April)
Comment on:
Egypt and Syria, together with antimon-
archical Jordanian nationalist groups
inside and outside of Jordan, are attempt-
ing to prevent King Hussain from consol-
idating his position and may be about to
undertake a struggle which could set the
anti-Western majority of the population in
West Jordan in open resistance to the king.
,The new crisis was given impetus by the
oting's appointment of a council of five army
officers to investigate loyalty in the army,
and by his replacement of 40 to 60 nation-
alist officers with Bedouin officers loyal
to the crown. These moves and the arrest
of at least eleven antimonarchical "free
officers" led to the flight of recently ap-
pointed chief of staff Hiyari to Damascus,
whence he tendered his resignation. Al-
though professedly nonpolitical, Hiyari has
a background of covert nationalist, anti-
monarchical activity. Following his resig-
nation, Hiyari held a news conference in Damascus and accused
the "palace" of "preparing a plot in co-operation with foreign
non-Arab military attaches in Amman against Jordan's inde-
pendence and liberty!' Hiyari said that he had left when he
"found he could not stop this plot!' A Bedouin officer, Major
General Habis Majali, has been named acting chief of staff.
King Hussain was trying to get Syrian forces to with-
draw from Jordan and was attempting to gain control of the army
in preparation for making an alliance with the West and accept-
ing the American proposals on the Middle East.
31 Apr 57
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la I-4 Nt..01 %Lai 1
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Foreign Minister Nabulsi and others had been
forced to join the cabinet by the king's threats, and would
take the first opportunity to escape.
Coincidentally with Hiyari's flight, ac-
tive opposition to the King's program began to, develop in
West Jordan. The dominant National Socialist Party is re-
ported to have demanded that its leader, former Premier
Nabulsi, resign from the cabinet, and the leftist-dominated
National Guidance Committees in West Jordan have circulated
petitions demanding replacement of American ambassador
Mallory for alleged interference in Jordan's internal affairs.
Demonstrations have resumed in West Jordan supporting these
demands, demon-
strations and riots are expected to occur in West Jordan after
Easter in an attempt to overthrow the King.
On 20 April the Egyptian military attach�
in Damascus urged Cairo to publicize Jordanian events imme-
diately, and recommended preparation of Jordan's "people,
political organizations and reliable men for opposition to the
King's wishes, if he is bent on carrying his plans through to
the end:' The attach�dded that the Syrians had sent an offi-
cer to contact those "free officers" in Jordan who were still
in command of their units, but admitted that their disposition
in relation to other army units was unfavorable since they
could not leave the Israeli front unguarded. He said that if
Cairo desired to act in Jordan, "the work should be co-ordi-
nated with Syria quickly," and urged that the Saudis be made
to understand that their support of Hussain would lead to Jor-
dan's disintegration.
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�;*
2. SOVIET NOTES ON THE MIDDLE EAST
Comment on:
The 19 April Soviet notes to the United
States, Britain and France appear to be
primarily an attempt to exploit for its
propaganda value in the Arab world the
Western refusal of the USSR's six-point
draft declaration of 11 February on the Middle East.
The USSR, while restating the validity of
its original declaration, now calls for a four-power declara-
tion condemning the use of force in the Near and Middle East
as a first step toward "normalization:' It accuses the West
pf refusing to seek an acceptable basis for a regional settle-
ihent. The three notes are. not identical in their lines of argu-
ment, but they all reflect the USSR's preoccupation with pre-
venting unilateral Western intervention in the area. For the
most part, the notes merely recapitulate the established
Soviet position.
the USSR never expected the West
to accept the declaration proposed in its note of 11 February,
but considered that the note had a high propaganda potential.
21 Apr 57
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0
3. MAKARIOS, ITT VII7Q ram ovryDTTC TCQ
Reference:
Archbishop Makarios' views on a solu-
tion of the Cyprus issue remain the sam
as when his negotiations with British gov-
ernor Harding were broken off in February
1956,
Makarios then demanded an
elected legislature appropriately reflecting the island's Greek
majority, amnesty for members of the EOKA underground,
Cypriot control of internal security, and the grant of self-
determination within a fixed time limit. Makarios' statement
means his ultimate goal remains the union of Cyprus with
Greece.
Following a discussion among Makarios and
Foreign Minister Averoff and his subordinates on 17 April,
all con-
cerned regarded partitioning Cyprus as "utterly unacceptable."
Ave roff also said that Makarios seemed interested in the con-
cept of "guaranteed independence" but did not respond to Averoffs
offer to work for that solution.
According to Averoffs account, Makarios is
pleased with the Greek government's handling of the issue and
particularly with Prime Minister Karamanlis.
Makarios disagrees with
Athens' attempts to avoid offending Ankara, whose reaction he
insists is "contrived!' The Turks would "have to be satisfied"
with assurances on minority rights but cannot expect to partic-
ipate in any negotiations. Makarios also rules out NATO con-
sideration because of the "complications" which would be created
for the Greek government.
Makarios reportedly intends to leave Athens
in a few days because of his fear of becoming embroiled in lo-
cal politics: "Ill stay, it will become like a coffeehouse where-
ever I am."
21 Apr 57
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4. FIRST SHIPMENT OF CHINESE COMMUNIST AID TO
CA ODIA UNDER WAY
Comment on;
The first shipments under the $22,400,000
Chinese Communist aid program to Cam-
bodia are scheduled to depart Hong Kong
on 20 and 24 April, according to the Amer-
ican embassy in Phnom Penh. The aid will consist of 1,200 tons
of cement, 1,400 tons of textiles, and "iron and steel cargo!'
This shipment is being made at a time when
anti-Communist sentiment is perceptively increasing in neutral-
ist Cambodia. Peiping's long delay in implementing the aid agree-
ment negotiated nearly a year ago has caused dissatisfaction in
Phnom Penh, culminating in a newspaper attack on Chinese aid
"promises" by a high Cambodian official during late March.
Growing Communist subversion in Cambodia has heightened
this dissatisfaction and has raised doubts as to the efficacy of
Cambodia's present "neutralist" policies.
Cambodia is concerned that South Vietnam--
with which its relations have been gradually improving�will not
permit these shipments to transit its waters, thereby forcing them
to be off-loaded in lighter&aLthenew Cambodian port of Kam on
Som in the Gulf of Siam.
21 Apr 57
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