CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/03/13

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03162008
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: March 13, 1957

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13 March 1957
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
Copy No. 131
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OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SECRET
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CONTENTS
1� GAZA STRIP SITUATION
(page 3)�
2. FRENCH AND BRITISH AGREE TO MAINTAIN COMMON
POSITION ON SUEZ (page 5).
3. FRENCH-BRITISH SPLIT OVER BRITISH FORCES CUTS
RE:PORTED (page 6).
t;) 4. BRITAIN MAY RESUME ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL
(page 8).
5. ALGERIAN REBELS MAY RECEIVE BLOC ARMS
(page 9).
6. SOVIET-YUGOSLAV DISPUTE SHARPENS
(page 10).
7. SHAH REPORTEDLY CALLS FOR NEW GOVERNMENT IN
IRAN (page 11)�
4-8. SOVIET ADVISERS IN EAST GERMAN GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES TO BE WITHDRAWN (paga 12).
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1. GAZA STRIP SITUATION
Comment on:
Israel's reaction to Egypt's assertion of
its right to administer the Gaza strip
has been confined so far to warnings that
Egypt and the UN will bear the responsi-
bility if fedayeen terrorist operations are
renewed while the strip is u.idar their con-
trol, and that the Egyptian aztion "violates
the agreement" under which the Israelis
withdrew. The Israeli security guard along
the border of the strip reportedly is being further tightened,
while the press and radio re-echo charges that Egyptian feda-
yeen terrorism has already been renewed in the form of mine
laying and theft of equipment from Israeli settlements near
the border.
On her return to Israel from New York
on 10 March, Foreign Minister Meir repeated to Ambassa-
dor Lawson a dramatic warning she said she gave the UN
secretary general that "if the Egyptians return to Gaza, it
means war!" Mrs. Meir also said she told Hammarskjold
she was "confident" Israel would have support in such ac-
tion, since the "French have made it clear in specific terms
and I believe the United States assumes that we would take ac-
tion under certain conditions."
Egypt meanwhile has begun issuing ad-
ministrative orders, including one for the export of Gaza's
entire citrus crop to Egypt. It is not clear, however, that
any genuine representative of Egyptian authority has yet en-
tered the strip; prior to Cairo's appointment of an "admin-
istrative governor" the Egyptians had asked that six or seven
Egyptian officers be received in Gaza to act as liaison offi-
cers. An Egyptian government spokesman has played down the
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possibility that Egypt might send troops to Gaza, arguing
that logistical difficulties would prevent such a movement.
According to present information, Egypt
has not moved any significant army strength into Sinai. The
UN force now in the strip is estimated to have a total strength
of 2,445 men in four battalions�one Indian, one Swedish, one
Colombian and one Danish-Norwegian. The whereabouts of
the Yugoslav company which entered Gaza with the Danish-
Norwegian battalion is not precisely known.
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2. FRENCH AND BRITISH AGREE TO MAINTAIN COMMON
POSITION ON SUEZ
Comment on:
British prime minister Macmillan and
French premier Mollet reached "com-
plete agreement" on the Suez question
in their 8 March talks, according to the
secretary general of the French Foreign
Ministry. The French official told the
American charg�n Paris that both gov-
ernments will insist that the six prin-
ciples agreed on in October be observed; that half the tolls
be paid to Egypt and hall to an international agency; and that
Egyptian funds continue to be blocked until a Suez agreement
along these lines is concluded.,
Paris and London plan to appeal to the
United Nations if Nasr refuses to accept these terms. France,
however, according to the British Foreign Office, account of
the conversation, took a stronger stand and insisted that
serious consideration also be given to boycotting the canal.
It was emphasized that both countries intend to consult the
United States fully on all these matters.
The French believe that if Nasr actually
attempts to establish an Egyptian administration in the Gaza
strip at this time, Israel "will of course react." According
to the British account, Macmillan and Mollet agreed that
every effort should be made to dissuade Israel from forcing
passage of the canal or the Strait of Tiran with naval escorts.
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3. FRENCH-BRITISH SPLIT OVER BRITISH FORCES
CUTS REPORTED
France has notified Britain that it will
offer a resolution rejecting the proposed
British forces cut at the Western Euro-
ean Union (WE U) meeting later this week,
ccording to the US representative to
ATO. The resolution results from the
'mpasse in the Mollet-Macmillan talks
on 8 March in which France reportedly
insisted that enough British troops be left on the Continent
to maintain four "thinned-down" divisions. The British held
that financial considerations made the cuts necessary.
The British representative to NATO, in
conversation with SACE UR on 11 March, held out no hope of
his government's accepting SACEUR's recommendation for
stationing part of the British strategic reserve on the Conti-
nent. He threatened that London might ask some searching
questions about its WEU partners' contributions to NATO if
these countries did not show more understanding of the British
position. Ambassador Perkins, however, believes the French
will go through with the resolution unless the British offer some
compromise in the meantime.
Comment France's opposition to the cuts is an indi-
cation of its alarm over a possible British
drift away from the Continent at a time when much of French
policy, including its advocacy of EURATOM, the Common
Market, and Eurafrica, is based on closer cross-channel ties.
French officials may also fear that .a sharp and publicized cut
in British troops in Germany will reawaken the French pub-
lic's apprehensions over German predominance on the Continent.
Although the other members of WE U prob-
ably have doubts as to the advisability of pushing Britain to the
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point of disavowing its treaty commitments, most of them
share French concern over the political and psychological
impact of a troop reduction.
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4. BRITAIN MAY RESUME ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL
A British Foreign Office official on
11 March indicated that London is con-
sidering resuming arms shipments to
Israel. In the Foreign Office's prelim-
inary view, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Sharm al-
Shaikh renders inapplicable the UN ban on arms shipments
to the area of hostilities. The official said that most of the
pending orders from Israel are for auxiliary equipment and
spare parts which have already been paid for.
Comment Now that Israel has complied with UN
resolutions, London is probably seeking
means to demonstrate its support of Israel publicly. Britain
apparently intends to use the 1950 tripartite declaration to
justify deliveries of arms to ][srael to balance Soviet aid to
Egypt and Syria and the equipment Britain will turn over to
Jordan upon termination of the Anglo-Jordanian treaty. Lon-
don earlier had refused Israeli requests for fulfillment of arms
orders.
Israel has a long-standing order in Britain
for Centurion tanks, and a January request included a destroyer.
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5. ALGERIAN REBELS MAY RECEIVE BLOC ARMS
Comment on:
On 4 March, Major Fathi al-Dib, the
Egyptian army officer identified with
the procurement of arms for the Al-
gerian rebels, authorized the Egyptian
military attach�n Prague to conclude
the "entire deal!'
Algerian nationalists have
reversed an earlier decision not to pur-
chase arms from the Soviet bloc.
difficulty in financing the operation because
the "sum is frozen in Switzerland" and he feared "lest the
operation be exposed" and attributed to Egypt.
an attempt would be made to
transfer funds to the Egyptian ambassador in Bern to pay
for "a third of the deal;' and inquired regarding Czech re-
action to an Egyptian guarantee of payment pending the es-
tablishment of credit so that the shipment could be made
from Poland, apparently on 20 March.
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6. SOVIET-YUGOSLAV DISPUTE SHARPENS
Comment on:
The increasing sharpness in public ex-
changes between Moscow and Belgrade
demonstrates that the USSR's attitude
toward any deviation in the Communist
world is as inflexible today as it was
during Stalin's regime.
In a strongly worded response to Yugo-
slav foreign minister Popovic's February speech, Pravda
on 11 March denied the possibility of a position between
socialism and capitalism and made clear that a "true social-
ist state" submits unquestioningly to the USSR. Belgrade
papers, in a swift reply the next day, pointed out that the
USSR was reviving the methods of Stalinism by refusing to
tolerate differing views, and strongly criticized Moscow's
attempts to split the Tito regime by singling out individual
Yugoslav leaders for attack.
Moscow has apparently felt compelled to
attack every aspect of Tito's policy, and Belgrade's refusal
to let the criticism go unanswered has added to the intensity
of the exchanges. The Soviet onslaught on the basic Yugoslav
"antibloc" position will probably lessen considerably Bel-
grade's customary support of Soviet foreign policy, and shift
Yugoslav criticism more from West to East.
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7. SHAH REPORTEDLY CALLS FOR NEW GOVERNMENT
IN IRAN
Comment on:
Prime
Minister Ala is being replaced because
of "lethargy," which is slowing develop-
ment and -reform Programs. The Shah said he had requested
Minister of Court Eqbal to form a new government and a new
political party, and Interior Minister Alam to organize an
opposition party. Eqbal would have full responsibility in all
fields except the military, justice, which "should be above
politics;' and foreign policy, which was "irrevocably set" when
Iran aligned itself with the free world.
The Shah said he had "learned the hard way"
who could be trusted among those around him and feels strongly
now that he can begin to become a statesman seeking ways to
improve his country.
Eqbal has stated privately he would not ac-
cept the premiership unless given more authority than the
present prime minister, who is only a figurehead. Unless
the Shah has decided to withdraw from personal participation
in government operations, which seems unlikely, he and Eqbal
would probably soon come into conflict.
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8, SOVIET ADVISERS IN EAST GERMAN GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES TO BE WITHDRAWN
The Soviet embassy in East Berlin has
ordered all Soviet advisers to be re-
called from East German ministries by
15 March,
No replacements for the advisers are
contemplated and their German staffs are to be assigned to
other jobs. control functions are to be
ssu e officials of the Soviet embassy in East Berlin.
Comment
The reported withdrawal of Soviet ad-
visers is probably intended to enhance
the appearance of East German sovereignty and give the re-
gime greater public acceptance by eliminating this overt
evidence of Soviet control over East German government
operations. Soviet controls can be exercised in a less ob-
trusive manner by embassy officials through liaison and
party channels.
The status of forces agreement, signed
on 12 March, probably provides for Soviet advisers with
East German military and security forces. The adviser
system is standard practice in Satellite armed forces, and
the intermediate stage of development of East Germany's
armed forces would make the retention of advisers likely.
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