CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
13
Document Creation Date: 
December 15, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 5, 2003
Sequence Number: 
1
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Publication Date: 
November 12, 1968
Content Type: 
REPORT
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PDF icon CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5.pdf385.38 KB
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Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A0125 G 5 25X1 DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE Central Intelligence Bulletin State Department review completed Secret 51 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/10/04-: P P79T00975A012500070001-5 No. 0311/68 12 November 1968 Central Intelligence Bulletin CONTENTS South Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 1) Czechoslovakia-USSR: Dubcek leadership faces seri- ous problems while preparing for central committee plenum. (Page 2) Poland: Tension and factional maneuvering highlight opening day of party congress. (Page 4) 25X1 Okinawa: Leftist opposition candidate elected chief executive. (Page 8) Algeria-Morocco: Boumediene visit (Page 9) Malaysia: Police sweep (Page 9) Pakistan: Disturbances (Page 9) USSR: Tank missiles (Page 10) Approved For Release 2003/108)F P79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/$ ;, RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 C South Vietnam: President Thieu's tough line on negotiations still enjoys widespread support, but a few cracks have begun to appear. Thieu's refusal to join the Paris talks has won substantial backing in the countryside, particularly amon military officers and provincial officials. IThieu's obduracy has established his anti-Communist creden- tials for the first time and he is now in a position to change course and agree to talk with the Liberation Front without being accused of selling out the country to the Communists. Not everyone is supporting Thieu's stand on the talks, however. A growing number of responsible South Vietnamese officials have described Thieu's formulation of 8 November as "unrealistic" and argue that the time has come for Thieu to compromise. The pace of ground fighting picked up through- out South Vietnam after 9 November, but Communist- initiated action was generally limited to harassing shellings. Communist artillerymen launched numerous attacks against allied military positions and installations throughout the country over the weekend. These barrages included at least four attacks launched from within the Demilitarized Zone on allied positions in northern Quang Tri Province. More than 100 artil- lery, rocket, and mortar rounds were fired from en- emy positions in the southern section of the Zone, resulting in American casualties of five killed and 46 wounded. Allied counteraction included tactical air strikes and some 204 rounds of artillery fire against the enemy firing positions. 17 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 SECRET Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003kgLV~9RETRDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Czechoslovakia-USSR: Dubcek and other top Czechoslovak leaders are faced with serious prob- lems as they prepare for the central committee plenum on 14 November. Party Secretary Zdenek Mlynar, who reportedly has submitted his resignation rather than give in to Soviet demands, has told mass media officials that the plenum will result in "basic cadre changes" and "disillusionment for the nation." Mlynar's re- marks suggest that Dubcek may comply with Soviet insistence that more pro-Soviet conservatives be elevated to the party leadership. The hard liners, who still are in the minority, may now feel that there is enough dissension within the party to is- sue--with Soviet support--a broad challenge to Dub- cek at the plenum. Moscow's attitude toward the Dubcek leadership appears to have toughened. Special Soviet emissary to Prague Kuznetsov is said to have compiled a de- tailed criticism of the activities of the Czechoslo- vak mass media in September and October. [As a re- sult, Reporter, the Czechoslovak equivalent of Time magazine, has been suspended for one month, and several outspoken Communist Party periodicals al- legedly will be sharply restricted or silenced com- pletely. According to an unconfirmed press report, the suspension of Politka, a party central committee publication, will be announced today. J The Russians are disturbed by Dubcek's failure to terminate effectively the anti-Soviet demonstra- tions throughout the country during the last two weeks, as well as his inability to guarantee that such manifestations of anti-Soviet sentiment will not take place in the future. Prague students, en- couraged by the restraint shown thus far by police and military forces during the disturbances, have called for a student strike on 17 November. Premier Cernik, however, yesterday warned the students that] 12 Nov 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin SECRET Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/109CfRDP79TO0975AO12500070001-5 C"drastic steps" which "might end in tragedy" will have to be taken against further demonstrations. Cernik may fear that Soviet troops might take mat- ters in their own hands if the students are not kept under control by the Czechoslovak security forces. J Central Intelligence Bulletin Approved For Release 2003/16ACBI -WDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 20AAOA SA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 I Poland: The party congress opened yesterday amid public tension, last-minute factional maneu- vering, and pleas for new action to overcome in- ternational Communist disunity. No public disturbances have occurred, but the government is clearly jumpy because the party con- clave is taking place shortly after anti-Soviet student demonstrations in Prague. Polish students, who have been quiet following the disorders last March, reportedly have been warned against any public protests. Additional police patrols have been reported, and surveillance of Westerners has been increased. A total of 37 foreign parties sent representa- tives to the congress. Soviet party boss Brezhnev, East Germany's Ulbricht, and Bulgaria's Zhivkov are attending, leaving Hungarian party boss Kadar the only head of a Warsaw Pact country participating in the invasion of Czechoslovakia to absent himself from the Polish congress. This suggests that he wishes to dissociate himself from the conclave's expected endorsement of the Warsaw Pact action. The Yugoslav party, which had been one of the se- verest critics of the invasion, reportedly was not invited. The Rumanian and Czechoslovak parties are represented by lesser-ranking officials. Available portions of Polish party leader Gomulka's day-long keynote speech yesterday reveal the expected stress on "revisionism" as the main in- ternational as well as domestic danger. Gomulka re- peated his familiar calls for open interparty dis- cussions to overcome the "difficult and complex situation" of the international Communist movement, and pleaded for unity. There are rumors that rump talks between Moscow and its most loyal allies may take place during the 12 Nov 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin Approved For Release 20&Et dR'lA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 20 At A G`IA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 congress. The Soviets could also use the occasion to lobby for support among nonruling parties for an early international Communist summit. Domestically, the congress shows early signs of sanctioning a new balance of power between Go- mulka's old guard and young, hard-line party ele- ments. A last-minute central committee plenum on 9 November expelled from its ranks two members who had long been under hard-line attack for their re- visionist stand and their alleged role in the stu- dent riots in March. At least one third of the 85-member central committee probably will be re- placed with less fanfare by hard-line candidates at the congress. Gomulka's position as party boss appears secure, but the new central committee to be elected at the conclave will bring ever in- creasing pressure on him by a rising hard-line gen- eration who intend to share his once complete con- trol of the party. F_ j 12 Nov 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/1 S 1 .1&i IDP79T00975A012500070001-5 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/1WR1fI 4fDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Okinawa: The first popular election for chief executive has been won by the leftist opposition's politically inexperienced candidate. Chobyo Yara, 65, received an impressive 50 per- cent of the popular vote compared with 45 percent for his conservative opponent from the Okinawa Lib- eral Democratic Party (OLDP). Yara's legislative proposals, however, will be tempered by the neces- sity to deal with a lawmaking body in which the conservative OLDP has retained its majority. Yara, a newcomer to politics, is currently the chairman of the leftist-oriented and widely influ- ential Okinawa Teachers' Association. Despite his campaign calls for a rapid return of the Ryukyus to Japanese administration, US officials in Okinawa, who have met with him privately, have been impressed with his moderate approach to US-Okinawa issues. Yara is widely respected in Okinawa as a leader in his own right. Because Yara has no political affiliation of his own, he will have to depend on elements of the leftist tripartite coalition in building his power base. If he aligns himself with the moderate Oki- nawa Socialist Masses Party as he indicated last July, it is unlikely that his administration will jeopardize US interests with regard to mob control in the vicinity of US bases and the careful manage- ment of the delicate reversion issue. If he is forced to draw support from the radical Socialists or Communists, however, his ability to maintain freedom of action will become less predictable. Central Intelligence Bulletin Approved For Release 2003/16ECRI -WDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 200~A70 .U-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Algeria-Morocco: Premier Boumediene's visit to Morocco will occur early in January, according to an Algerian press announcement. Earlier reports had in- dicated that Boumediene would go to Rabat in mid- November. The postponement, following on the heels of a quick trip to Rabat by several high-level Alger- ian officials who conferred with King Hassan and other Moroccan officials, suggests that some snag has developed in preparations for the Boumediene-Hassan talks. Malaysia: A major police sweep in which 137 known or suspected Communists have been arrested thus far in West Malaysia may be partially intended to pave the way for unobstructed national elections this spring. Periodic large-scale sweeps--this is the sixth in two years--are designed to remove militant leaders from the Communist movement and to preclude their developing firm control of several factionalized leftist organizations. As the result of government action, West Malaysia's small Communist movement remains relatively in ective despite a trend toward increased militancy. 25X1 Pakistan: Rawalpindi and other major cities in West Pakistan appear to be returning to normal fol- lowing recent antigovernment disorders, although new outbreaks of student unrest are possible. The govern- ment's use of the army to assist the police, when the latter were unable to control the demonstrators, quickly ended the rioting in two cities including the national capital, Rawalpindi. The reported at- tempt on President Ayub's life in Peshawar on Sunday resulted in no casualties and may have been merely an effort by a dissident student to disrupt the meeting at which Ayub was to speak. (continued) 12 Nov 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/P4TRDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/1~XlC rkDP79TO0975AO12500070001-5 USSR: The Soviets may be equipping their newest tanks w th antitank guided missiles. What appear to be launchers for these missiles were observed recently on several Soviet T-62 tanks in East Germany. The tanks had canvas-covered metal frames toward the rear of the turret. The frames were large enough to hold two or three Sagger antitank guided missiles. Addition of these missiles to the T-62's armament will increase its antitank capability to about 2,750 meters compared with the 1,500-meter effective ran e of the tank's 115-mm. main gun. 12 Nov 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 Approved For Release 200 OR1 'i -RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5 Secret Secret Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012500070001-5