MIDDLE EAST AFRICA SOUTH ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A001200320001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 31, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 30, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A001200320001 ` --
Secret
No Foreign Dissem
Middle East
Africa
South Asia
Secret
_ L4 0
No. 0.818/7.5
June 30, 1975
Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO01200320001-4
 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A001200320001-4
No Foreign Dissem/Controiied Dissem
Warning Notice
Sensitive Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
Classified by 005827
Exempt from general declassification schedule
of E. 0. 11652, exemption category:
? 5B (1), (2). and (3)
Automatically declassified
on: Date Impossible to Determine
Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A001200320001-4
 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 SM-WIF .9T00865A001200320001-4
This publication is prepared for regional specialists in the Washington com-
munity by the Middle East - Africa Division, Office of Current Intelligence,
with occasional contributions from other offices within the Directorate of
Intelligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should be directed to
the authors of the individual articles.
Ethiopia: Regime Officials Touring Provinces . . 1
Comoro Islands: A Hitch on the Road to
Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
June 30, 1975
SECRET
Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO01200320001-4
 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 SECRET00865A001200320001-4
Ethiopia
Regime Officials Touring Provinces
Figurehead chief of state Teferi Benti, Defense
Minister Ayalew Mandefro,and four members of the
ruling military council began a two-week tour of the
provinces on June 26. The trip seems to be intended
to bolster army morale and to defend the council's
policies against criticism reportedly being voiced
by some military units.
The ostensible purpose of the tour is to gain
first-hand knowledge of the country's problems. The
group reportedly will meet with students involved in
the rural development program and assess drought
conditions in the Ogaden, as well as talk with
civilian and military officials along the way.
Teferi and Ayalew were dispatched to the provinces
to mollify key army units that have recently sub-
mitted demands for policy changes. The 3d Infantry
Division and 4th Brigade reportedly have pressed
the council to modify its land reform program and
to move toward civilian rule. (SECRET NO FOREIGN
DISSEM/CONTROLLED DISSEM)
June 30, 1975 1
SECRET
Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A001200320001-4
 Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865A001200320001-4
SECRET
Comoro Islands
A Hitch on the Road to independence
The French National Assembly on June 26 approved
a bill that moves the Comoro Islands further toward
independence but calls into question the future ter-
ritorial integrity of the archipelago. The Assembly
voted to allow each of the four Indian Ocean islands
to decide separately whether to accept a draft
independence constitution that is to be drawn up
within six months by a committee representing all
Comorian political groups. Prime Minister Chirac's
government had wanted all the islands to be bound by
the constitution, once a majority of all the islanders
approves its adoption.
Comorian national political leaders are sure to
denounce the Assembly's action. An island-by-island
vote will allow the Mahorais--the inhabitants of the
island of Mayotte--to end their association with the
rest of the Comoros and become a French department.
The Mahorais voted against independence in the refer-
endum of December 1974. Mayotte has a large French
and native Christian population, and the Mahorais
feel little sense of identity with the Muslim culture
that predominates on the other islands.
French officials are concerned about international
reaction to the Assembly's vote. They fear Paris will
be subjected to charges of attempting to perpetuate
a colonial arrangement with Mayotte, in order to
ensure France a military presence in the Indian Ocean.
France is already under increasing criticism from
African and Arab countries because of its policies
toward South Africa and its continuing hold on the
French Territory of Afars and Issas. (CONFIDENTIAL)
June 30, 1975
SECRET
d- T or a ease 2001/0808 : A-R P7 T00865A001200320001-4
 ARproved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO01200320001-4
Secret
Secret
Approved For Release 2001/08/08 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO01200320001-4