CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A002900130001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 5, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 30, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

202'A$/A`61-KDP79
TVP -
25X1A
25X 30 December 1
Copy No.
25X1
25X1 0
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS,
r~.xr REV1c%J,DaTE:
11 7,04
AUi Fi:V 'I__~
DA T iL L REVIEWER: F--l 0
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENC
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
25X1'
State Dept. review completed
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
20T2 IA~' -P P79
 25X1 Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
 Approved`FoXf7gle
CONTENTS
25X1
25X1A
P75AQ02900130001-5
1. NEW UPSURGE OF VIOLENCE LIKELY IN ALGERIA
3, ISRAELI NEWSPAPER CHARGES US IS UNFRIf NDLY TO
ISRAE L
25X1A
4. SYRIAN CABINET CRISIS
25X1A 5. NASR SAID TO FEAR ARMS ACQUIRED BY EGYPTIAN
COMMUNISTS
25X1
25X1 D
IN BURMA
7. U NU VICTORY AVERTS OPEN POLITICAL SHOWDOWN
25X1A
10. 'MOSCOW NAMES AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN
(page 12).
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin
25X1A
Page 2
25X1A
Approved For ReleasIe 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T009T5A002900130001-5
 25X1A
Approved For*lease 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975A00
1. NEW UPSURGE OF VIOLENCE LIKELY IN ALGERIA
25X1A
25X1A
25X1A
Violence in Algeria, where urban ter-
rorism rose sharply last week, may
reach a new peak on or about 1 January
as a result of new incidents perpetrated
by nationalist extremists and European counterterrorists.
The anticipated upsurge is likely to be felt most severely in
the cities and especially in the capital, Algiers, where a
new record of over 30 incidents was recorded last week.
25X1
25X1
A rebel pam-
phlet distributed in Paris proclaims that a "new phase" of the
rebellion is about to begin, A strike by Moslem trade unions
and business associations expected in several cities over the
New Year holiday contributes a further element of uncertainty.
25X1
Prospects for widespread reprisals by
European counterterrorists are also increasing. Inflamed by
a long series of provocations culminating in the assassination
on 28 December of a prominent right-wing local French official,
European extremists leaders used his funeral the following day
to stage a massive and disorderly demonstration of anti-Moslem
and, to some extent anti-American, settler solidarity. These
developments appear to support persistent but unconfirmed re-
ports that European extremists have been organizing militarily
and are prepared to use force to prevent the government from
instituting basic political reforms which would undermine the
dominant position long enjoyed by the resident Europeans.
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 3
Approved For Rel
25X1A
 Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
 25X1A
25X1A
Approved F
3. ISRAELI NEWSPAPER CHARGES US IS UNFRIENDLY
TO ISRAE L
The Jerusalem Post, a newspaper which
usually reflects the views of the Israeli
Foreign Ministry, said in a front-page
article on 28 December that American
officials hact recently become "singularly unfriendly to Israel."
The article asserted that these officials "derided" Israel's re-
cent note on fedayeen activity as an excuse for Israel to remain
in Gaza, and that the American reaction to Israel's position
portends a "crystallization of a policy against Israel and has
given rise to speculation that the United States is about to em-
bark on another massive effort to win over Nasr and the Arabs"
Comment This article may be the beginning of a full-
scale Israeli campaign to elicit an Ameri-
can policy statement in advance of the date when Israel will be
faced with the necessity of deciding whether to complete the
evacuation of Sinai and the Gaza strip. Prime Minister Ben-
Gurion recently said such a decision would have to be made b
his government early in January.
25X1A
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin
25X1A
Approved F
Page 5
 25X1A
Approved Fort
4. SYRIAN CABINET CRISIS
25X1A
25X1A
25X1
Syrian prime minister Asali appears to
be blocked at least temporarily in his ef-
forts to form a new, more "harmonious"
cabinet. Asali's main obstacle is the con-
servative Populist Party, which has re-
fused to provide more than nominal repre-
sentation unless given specific portfolios
in a new cabinet, while President Quwatli
allegedly has vetoed the appointment of at least two leading
leftists. The Egyptian embassy in Damascus is playing an ac-
tive role in the attempt to form a new government and to intro-
duce leftist influence into it, but so far has been unable to over-
come the president's opposition.
A continued impasse of this kind, while by
no means unusual in Syrian politics, might under present con-
ditions lead leftist or rightist army factions to try to impose a
solution.
ome recent troop movements inside Syria may have
been made for political purposes.
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 6
25X1A
Approved Fo
25X1
25X1
 25X1A Approved ForIRelease 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975A002990130001-5
5. NASR SAID TO FEAR ARMS ACQUIRED BY
EGYPTIAN COMMUNISTS
25X1A
Egyptian president Nasr has revised his
former opinion that he could handle the
Communist problem in Egypt by routine
police action, according to an Egyptian
publisher apparently acting as Nasr's emissary to the Amer-
ican embassy. Nasr allegedly feels the new element in the
situation is the arms distributed to the Egyptian populace dur-
ing the hostilities. The Communists, who received arms at
that time, are now refusing to give them up and are conduct-
ing training in their use with manuals obtained "from some-
where:'
Nasr hopes the United States will press
Israel to withdraw promptly and completely, since he feels
he cannot take strong measures to get the arms back while
foreign troops are on Egyptian soil.
Ambassador Hare observes that this ap-
proach should probably be regarded as a "classic example"
of the use of the Communist issue to influence the United States,
although there is evidence that Communists are becoming more
active and are taking an ultranationalistic line to keep emotions
aroused.
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 7
25X1A
Approved For, 01-5
 25X1 Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
 25X1A
25X1A
Approved Fo
7. U NU VICTORY AVERTS OPEN POLITICAL SHOWDOWN
IN BURMA
Comment on:
The announcement on 29 December by
the Anti-Fascist Peoples' Freedom
League (AFPFL), Burma's ruling party,
that U Nu will soon return to office as
premier indicates that a serious politi-
cal crisis has been at least temporarily averted. The AFPFL
action, which represents a rebuff to such powerful leaders as
Premier Ba Swe and Deputy Premier Kyaw Nyein, was prob-
ably taken to avoid an open showdown between the Socialist
faction of the AFPFL and Nu, who threatened to bring down
the government when parliament meets if he was not returned
to office. Nu still commands a wide popularity throughout the
country and strong support in parliament.
The Socialists, however, will continue to
exert a strong, if not dominant influence on the day-to-day
operation of the government, as they did before Nu resigned
last June. Moreover, at least two Socialists, one of them Ba
Swe, will serve as deputy premiers under Nu, and several others
will undoubtedly be included in the cabinet.
The chief loser in the reshuffle would appear
to be Kyaw Nyein, who led the fight against Nu's return to power.
Kyaw Nyein has been widely regarded as the real "brain" of the
government and has in the past felt that Nu should serve primar-
ily as a front man for the AFPFL. Whether or not he remains
in the government, Kyaw Nyein is likely to take advantage of any
future opportunity to undermine U Nu.
Major changes in Burmese policies are un-
likely to result from the switch in premiers. Nu may incline,
however, toward a stricter neutrality in foreign relations than
Ba Swe, who recently took the lead among the Asian neutralists
in denouncing Soviet intervention in Hungary.
25X1A
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 9
Approved For Release 1 - 0001-5
 25X1 D
Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt
Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO02900130001-5
 ~25X1A
Approved For Release 2002/10/21 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO0 900130001-5
low
25X1A
10. MOSCOW NAMES AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN
Comment on:
Ivan F. Tevosyan, newly appointed
Soviet ambassador to Tokyo, has been
a deputy premier since December 1953
and is regarded as the outstanding, Soviet
metallurgical expert.
Ambassador Bohlen believes Tevosyan's
assignment abroad probably results from
the reshuffle of deputy premiers and the reorganization of
the Soviet economic planning by the recent central committee
plenum. Bohlen doubts that the appointment is motivated by
considerations of relations with Japan.
Failure of the metallurgical industry to
fulfill its plans may have been a factor in Tevosyan's appoint-
ment, as well as the possibility that he opposed the cutback
in capital investment announced by the plenum.
The removal of Tevosyan . as a deputy
premier, following that of Kosygin, Kucherenko, Matskevich,
Malyshev, and Khrunichev on 25 December, leaves only ..
two deputy prime ministers, Malenkov and Zavenyagin. While
the other five were appointed to the new high-level State Com-
mission for Short-Range Planning where they will presumably
concentrate on their special fields, Tevosyan's appointment as
ambassador represents a, considerable-demotion for him.
30 Dec 56 Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 1.2.
Approved
25X1A
For Release ZUUZ11U1Z1 : UA-KUPIUTIII~ 130001-5