CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/10/18

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Keywords: 2018 Sanitization
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03190616
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: October 18, 1957

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18 October 1957
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DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
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NECT REViEW DATE
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE
REVIEWER
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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CONTENTS
1. FURTHER EVIDENCE OF SOITTET NUCLEAR-POWERED
SUBMARINES page 3).
2, USSR ANNOUNCES AT
LAUNCHED SOON
3, YUGOS
TALKS
REAKER WILL BE
(page 4).
INFORM GREEKS OF BELGRADE-MOSCOW
(page 5).
4. SYRIAN COMPLAINT TO THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(page 6).
5, MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
(page 7).
6. BURMESE DEPUTY PREMIER REPORTEDLY TO DISCUSS
ARMS PURCHASES WITH CZECHS DURING BLOC TOUR
(page 8).
7. SITUATION IN LAOS
(page 9).
8. NEW GOVERNMENT COALITION IN PAKISTAN
(page 10).
9. BRITISH MARKING TIME ON CYPRUS PROBLEM
(page 11).
ANNEX--Conclusions of the Watch Re ort of the Intelli e
Advisory Committee
(page 12).
18 Oct 57 Current Intelligence Bulletin
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1. FURTHER EVIDENCE OF SOVIET NUCLEAR-
POWERED SUBMARINES
the USSR is
building nuclear-powered submarines in
that city at "Plant 564" (unidentified),
Hundreds of new workers
were reportedly brought into Molotovsk in 1956,and large in-
stallations were unloaded from ships and brought to the plant
under heavy MVD guard.
Comment Molotovsk has been considered the most
likely site for the construction of the USSR's
first nuclear-powered submarine. It has convenient air and
rail communications with Moscow and Leningrad, the locations
of the principal design bureaus, research institutes, and admin-
istrative offices which would support such a project.
The current estimate on the Soviet nuclear
energy program accords the USSR the capability of having a re-
actor suitable for a submarine in 1957. The growing volume of
evidence indicates that the USSR either has an atomic submarine
or will complete one very soon.
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2, USSR ANNOUNCES ATOMIC ICEBREAKER WILL BE
LAUNCHED SOON
Launching of the Soviet atomic icebreaker
Lenin, to be proclaimed as the first atomic.
powered surface vessel in the world, will
evidently be treated as part of the 40th an-
niversary program culminating on 7 November. The Soviet
news agency TASS announced that the Lenin, which was be-
gun in the spring of 1956, would be launched "soon" from the
Leningrad yards. Judging from the extent of the construction
as shown in a June photograph of the vessel, the hull could
probably be launched at any time. It probably would be some
time--perhaps as long as 18 months--before the vessel could
be fitted out with the reactor installation.
Soviet propaganda, in addition to claiming
another "first," will contrast the peaceful purposes of the Lenin
with alleged US emphasis on building atomic submarines.
The 16,000-ton, 400-foot vessel, which will
probably be added to the icebreaker fleet operating on the North-
ern Sea Route, will need refueling only about once a year and
will be able to travel at speeds of up to 18 knots in open water.
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3. YUGOSLAVS TO INFORM GREEKS OF BELGRADE-
MOSCOW TALKS
Reference:
ugoslav Vice President Kardelj will
attempt to allay Western suspicions
over the Yugoslav-Soviet rapproche-
ment during his scheduled visit to
Greece early next week. Yugoslav Act-
ing Foreign Secretary Bebler told the
Greek ambassador in Belgrade on 14
October that Kardelj will inform the
Greeks about Tito's recent conversations with Soviet Defense
Minister Zhukov, and also about Tito's meeting with Khrush-
chev in Rumania.
Kardelj will also raise the
subject of the Greek government's refusal--a great disappoint-
ment to Belgrade--to participate in the Balkan talks proposed
last month by Rumanian Premier Stoica.
In an attempt to create an identity of in-
terests, Bebler asserted that Yugoslav relations with Albania
and Bulgaria are fully as bad as Greek relations with those two
countries and he said there is no immediate prospect for im-
provement. In recent propaganda, however, the Yugoslays
have tried to pave the way for better relations.
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4. SYRIAN COMPLAINT TO THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Comment on:
A number of Arab delegations in the UN
are disturbed over Syria's complaint to
the president of the General Assembly
and are pessimistic as to where it might
lead, according to an Egyptian news cor-
respondent at the UN. He added that, when Syrian Foreign
Minister Bitar had discussed bringing the issue to the General
Assembly, some Arab delegations had protested that such ac-
tion would provide an opportunity for the United States "to agi-
tate for a Palestine settlement." Bitar did not agree and said
that Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko had assured him that the
United States "would lose out completely" in a debate on the
Syrian item. Egyptian Foreign Minister Fawzi reportedly had
also attempted to dissuade the Syrians, but they insisted that
their domestic situation would be improved by UN action on the ex-
ternal threat to Syria's security. A pro-Western member of the
Syrian delegation told Ambassador Lodge that Damascus had sub-
mitted the item only in an attempt to avoid "a feared upset of the
government."
There have been reports of internal dissen-
sion in Syria for some time, but there are no indications that a
governmental upset is in the offing.
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Recent information indicates that the
Egyptian military assistance group
which arrived in Syria on 13 October is
a force of about a thousand men. The
group consists of the equivalent of ap-
proximately one battalion of infantry with
some ta.nks, armored personnel carriers,
and artillery. These units are reported to
be well trained. The Egyptian contingent
reportedly will be deployed in the Aleppo
region near the Turkish frontier,
inovement of other groups of Egyptian
military personnel, who are to assist in training the Syrian
army, has been under way. groups
of Egyptian infantry, military police, engineers, and artillery
personnel were flown to Syria during the first two weeks of Octo-
ber.
According to press reports from Damascus
on 17 October, a Syrian government spokesman denied Egyptian
press reports that a state of emergency had been declared in the
Syrian army. The spokesman acknowledged that officers' leaves
had been canceled, but denied that soldiers' leaves had been cur-
tailed or that soldiers had been ordered to return to their units,
The spokesman added that no mobilization or even partial mobi-
lization had been ordered.
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6. BURMESE DEPUTY PREMIER REPORTEDLY TO DISCUSS
ARMS PURCHASES WITH CZECHS DURING BLOC TOUR
Comment on:
Deputy Prime Minister Kyaw Nyein will
negotiate for the purchase of arms during
his forthcoming visit to Czechoslovakia,
The
Czechs allegedly have offered the Burmese
anything they need, from small arms to field
artillery, on favorable terms.
During a two-month tour scheduled to begin
on 21 October, Kyaw Nyein will also visit the USSR, Poland,
and Communist China. This trip will be essentially a good-will
tour highlighted by attendance at Moscow's 7 November celebra-
tion.
Burma seeks substantial quantities of arms
to re-equip its army, now in the initial phases of a reorganiza-
tion, to enable the Burmese to patrol their borders. New arms
are also needed for the police, who are being prepared to assume
primary responsibility for suppressing the Communist and Karen
insurrections. In answering a reporter's question stimulated by
earlier rumors of Czech arms offers, Prime Minister U Nu stated
on 30 July that it was the policy of his government to purchase
arms from any source without regard to "ideological considera-
tion," provided it is within Burma's means to do so.
The Burmese have been promised $10,000,000
worth of American military equipment at favorable prices and an
American survey team is being sent to Burma in the near future
to study the requirements of the police
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7. SITUATION IN LAOS
Comment on:
Expansion of Laos' six-man "emer-
gency" cabinet is expected shortly
and there are indications that Prime
Minister Souvanna Phouma and other
proponents of an early settlement
with the Pathet Lao will seize this op-
portunity to press for a coalition cabi-
net which would include Pathet Lao
representatives. Souvanna
told a leader of the conservative Independent party that en-
largement of the cabinet should serve both to bring in for-
mer ministers who voluntarily stepped aside during the for-
mation of the present government and to allow the incorpo-
ration of Pathet Lao officials into the government.
Souvanna told an American embassy of-
ficial on 16 October that his brother, Pathet chief Souphan-
nouvong, is prepared to sign a joint communique embodying
all guarantees and concessions demanded by the royal gov-
ernment� He said this communique 'would guide the mixed
negotiating commissions in working out the final details of
a settlement, which would then be submitted to the national
assembly. Acceptance would clear the way for formation
of a coalition government.
Conflict of interest involved in the jockey-
ing for cabinet portfolios is seriously straining the alliance be-
tween the conservative leaders, Foreign Minister Phoui Sanani-
kone and Interior Minister Katay Sasorith, who have previously
served to check Souvanna's drift toward a relatively unguarded
settlement with the Pathets There are indications that Souvanna
is exploiting the rift.
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8. NEW GOVERNMENT COALITION IN PAKISTAN
Comment on:
The new government coalition in
Pakistan, expected to take office on
18 October with Moslem League leader
I. I. Chundrigar as prime minister,
may bring only a limited period of sta-
bility. The exclusion of former prime
minister Suhrawardy's Awami League
and the domination of the coalition by
West Pakistani elements probably will
result in a considerable increase of opposition sentiment
in East Pakistan.
Chundrigar told the press that the coali-
tion would include his own party and the Republican party,
two of Pakistanis major groups, as well as two smaller East
Pakistani political factions. He was to have been sworn in
on 17 October, but the ceremony has been postponed for one
day, possibly indicating a hitch in the naming of his cabinet.
Sixty-year-old Chundrigar has served in
several high government positions, but has little political fol-
lowing and lacks the qualities of a dynamic and popular leader.
The Moslem League recently called for an "independent" for-
eign policy, but Chundrigar indicated to the press on 17 Octo-
ber that his government would not make any significant changes
in Pakistan's present pro-Western policies.
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9. BRITISH MARKING TIME ON CYPRUS PROBLEM
Reference:
The British government has evidently
concluded that no new moves to nego-
tiate a settlement of the Cyprus prob-
lem would be profitable at the present
time. The Foreign Office is discouraged about the prospects
of persuading Greece even to discuss the British plan for a
British-Turkish-Greek condominium. It believes the Greek
and Cypriot assessment of the British Labor party's recent en-
dorsement of self-determination for Cyprus will cause Athens
to stall in the expectation that a future Labor government would
grant its aspirations. Greek opinion assumes that Labor will
win the next general election, which must be held by May 1960
at the latest.
In the meantime, the British intend to
weaken the EOKA underground by such tactics as their recent
announcement that they possess an EOKA list of 200 Greek
Cypriots scheduled for extermination. EOKA is nevertheless
likely to resume violence if it believes the UN General Assem-
bly debate, expected in November, does not advance the cause
of union with Greece. A resumption of terrorism might impel
London to resume efforts to negotiate a settlement.
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'W?
ANNEX
Watch Report 376, 17 October 1957
of the
Intelligence Advisory Committee
Conclusions on Indications of Hostilities
On the basis of findings by its Watch Committee, the
Intelligence Advisory Committee concludes that:
A. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostil-
ities against the continental US or its possessions in
the immediate future.
B. No Sib-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostil-
ities against US forces abroad, US allies or areas
peripheral to the orbit in the immediate future.
C. Unstable conditions and tensions stemming from devel-
opments concerning Syria continue to create possibilities
for conflict in the Middle East. The continued deployment
of major Turkish forces on the Syrian frontier, the pub-
licized presence of Egyptian forces in Syria, and Soviet
pressure moves combine to make this situation particularly
tense. On balance, the initiation of hostilities by Turkey
against Syria is considered unlikely in the immediate future.
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