CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A010800160001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 6, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 21, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Central Intelligence Bulletin
State Dept. review completed
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A. ,C21
21 February 1968
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21 February
Central Intelligence Bulletin
CONTENTS
South Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 1)
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USSR: The conflict is sharpening between the govern-
ment and the intellectuals. (Page 4)
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Jordan-Israel: Jerusalem problem (Page 6)
USSR: Navigation satellite (Page 6)
Bahamas: General elections (Page 6)
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21 Feb 68 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Map
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*South Vietnam: The Communists retain the military
initiative in large areas of South Vietnam but no major
new attacks have been reported.
Viet Cong forces are maintaining pressure on
provincial capitals throughout IV Corps. Six of the
capitals came under mortar and recoilless- rifle
fire on 19-20 February. In Hue, progress is still
slow in eliminating the stubbornly resisting enemy
forces entrenched within the Citadel.
The situation inside Saigon has been relatively quiet,
but sharp skirmishes continue on the outskirts of the
city. It is possible that the Communists may be using
the lull to infiltrate additional manpower into Saigon.
A new flareup of terrorist action in the city is possible
at any time.
Should the security situation deteriorate in Saigon,
the Communists might try to move in with their sub-
stantial main force elements which are still within
striking distance of the city.
Vice President Ky and General Nguyen Duc Thang .
resigned yesterday as chairman and chief of staff,
respectively, of the national recovery task force.
Ky, who had been sensitive to criticism that he
was using his role to increase his personal power,
evidently believes that the recovery effort will encounter
increasing bureaucratic difficulties under its new chair-
man, Prime Minister Loc, who is widely considered
to be ineffective. Ky may also anticipate that this will
also point up the weakness of government leadership
and the need for himself to be given greater responsibility.
According to press reports, police in Saigon have
arrested three prominent opposition figures: Buddhist
militant Thich Tri Quang, former economy minister Au
Truong Thanh, and defeated presidential candidate Truong
Dinh Dzu. Previous allegations of Communist ties on
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the part of the three men have never been substantiated
and, unless convincing evidence can be produced, the
government may become vulnerable to charges of using
the emergency to crack down on its political enemies.
21 Feb 68
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USSR: The conflict between the government and
the intellectual community is growing sharper.
Members of the literary underground are being
tried in numerous cities throughout the USSR, accord-
ing to US Embassy contacts in Moscow. These sources
report widespread arrests for private circulation of
literary works unacceptable to the authorities. This
approach would seem to be a switch from the selective
use of show trials, as was done in the case of writers
Sinyavsky and Daniel two years ago, to a systematic
prosecution of intellectual dissidents.
Last month's trial in Moscow of four young dis-
sidents has drawn public protest from leading writers,
artists, and scientists. They have expressed dismay
at the secrecy of the new proceedings and the possi-
bility of a return to the "shameful trials of the 1930s. "
Some intellectuals reportedly are preparing a petition
to be given directly to President Podgorny. Composer
Dmitry Shostakovich, a member of the party central
committee and of the Supreme Soviet, is said to have
agreed to present the petition. Several leading acade-
micians and physicists allegedly are ready to support
this action.
Apparently in an effort to quell the rising intellec-
tual protest, the KGB has sought-- so far with unknown
results--to intimidate outspoken critics of the crack-
down. A group of writers reportedly had planned to
demonstrate in their Moscow club last Friday, but a
warning from the KGB and the dispatch of a large num-
ber of plainsclothesmen to the club led to a cancella-
tion of the protest. Friends and relatives of the four
youths sentenced to imprisonment last month have re-
ceived the KGB's "last warning" against further pro-
test.
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NOTES
Jordan-Israel: Jordan is again threatening to
call for a UN Security Council meeting on the Jeru-
salem problem. In an evident attempt to move the
US to press the Israelis to discontinue making changes
in the status of Jerusalem, Jordanian Prime Minister
Talhouni told the US ambassador on 19 February that
his government can only hold off such a call "for a
few more days." Talhouni also claims he is under
pressure to request Egypt to station aircraft in Jor-
dan as a deterrent to further Israeli air strikes, but
such a move seems unlikely at this time.
USSR: The Soviets yesterday launched their
third navigation satellite in three months. The first
Soviet satellite related to this program was launched
more than six years after the first launch of a US
navigation satellite. The present rate of firings,
however, indicates that Moscow probably is now giv-
ing high priority to this project. Navigation satel-
lites transmit data enabling surface ships and sub-
marines equipped with special receivers to calculate
their positions precisely.
Bahamas: General elections seem likely, follow-
ing the death of a government member of the House of
Assembly. The district he represented is a marginal
one, where Premier Pindling's government is reluc-
tant to risk losing its one-vote legislative majority by
calling a by-election. The all-Negro government, on
the other hand, expects to make substantial gains in a
general election at the expense of the white-dominated
United Bahamian Party. Pindling's demand for in-
creased autonomy from Great Britain will be an impor-
tant election issue.
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