CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A012700010001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 3, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 2, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

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D
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Central Intelligence Bulletin
Secret
2 December 1968
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No. 0328/68
2 December 1968
Central Intelligence Bulletin
CONTENTS
Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 1)
Israel: Israeli commandos strike deep into Jor-
danian territory. (Page 3)
Arab Terrorists: Trend toward merger and cooperation
is increasing. (Page 4)
USSR: The USSR may be interested in an accommodation
with Intelsat. (Page 5)
Philippines: President approves trade with some Com-
munist countries. (Page 6)
Nicaragua: Anticipated cabinet changes may signal
an extension of the President's power and tenure.
(Page 7)
Brazil: Authoritarian measures feared (Page 8)
Portugal: Prime Minister's speech (Page 8)
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'Ban Me
Thuot
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Yung Tau
Can Tho. Capital Special Zone
NORTH
VIETNAM
Demilitarized Zone
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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C Vietnam: Communist forces appear to have pulled
back from the battlefield north and northwest of Saigon
after taking heavy casualties in several days of hard
fighting.
Small enemy units continued, however, to probe
and shell allied outposts in other areas of III Corps.
Throughout the rest of the country, action was gen-
erally light. There were no reported incidents of
enemy firing from within the Demilitarized Zone on
30 November - 1 December.
Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Israeli Commandos Strike into Jordan
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Tyre C 01"I tf _ -IGNTS
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Natanya /
Nablus
4) Jericho. *Karama *Amman
1Jerusalem
".Bethleh'em
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C Israel: Israeli commandos struck deep into
Jordan yesterday and destroyed two bridges on the
main road-rail link south from Amman.
An Israeli Army spokesman said only that the
raid took place 37 miles east of Sedom, which is at
the southern end of the Dead Sea. The railroad
bridge is presumably one on the main line which runs
down through Amman to Ma'an and toward the Jordanian
port of Aqaba. Both spans were 100 feet long. The
spokesman said the commando force returned safely.
!she raid appears similar to the one made deep into
Egypt on 1 November when commandos flew in by heli-
copter and struck at two bridges and a power station
on the Nile.
The Israeli spokesman said the raid was in re-
taliation for the "continuous sabotage activity"
against Israel by Arab guerrillas. He said there
had been 50 incidents since mid-November. One of
these terrorist attacks, which sharply raised tensions
in Israel, was the bombing of a Jewish marketplace
in west Jerusalem on 22 November when 12 persons
were killed.
The action against Jordanian facilities rather
than against Arab fedayeen bases suggests a new Is-
raeli tactic, designed perhaps to try to impress on
King Husayn the advisability of greater control over
the"fedayeen. In a statement in the Israeli parlia-
ment on 29 November, Minister of Defense Dayan pro-
nounced the Jordanian Government responsible for re-
cent Arab terrorist acts.
The Israeli raid, in addition to raising Arab-
Israeli tensions further, seems likely to cast some-
what of a shadow over the return to the area this
week of UN special representative Jarripa. and over
the visit of former Governor Scranton. 25X1
Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Arab Terrorists: The trend toward merger and
cooperation between terrorist organizations is in-
creasing and may result in a more important role for
these groups in Arab-Israeli affairs.
During the last week of November two mergers of
terrorist organizations were announced. The Palestine
Liberation Organization and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, two of the three major ter-
rorist bodies, will combine with two smaller groups.
Earlier in the week the last of another group of
small terrorist organizations announced its merger
with Fatah, the largest organization. There has al-
ready been military cooperation between the major
groups since late October when they established a
military coordination council in Amman, Jordan.
Besides making peace with one another, the ter-
rorists have also announced that they concluded a
14-point agreement with the Jordanian Government on
19 November. Through this agreement, Amman hopes to
assert its control over terrorist activities in Jordan.
Although the groups merging with the major or-
ganizations are small, in the aggregate they tend
to increase the capabilities, strength, and prestige
of those they are joining. More importantly, the
elusive unity which Palestinian groups have sought
since 1948 and the growing role in Arab-Israeli af-
fairs which would result may have been brought a
step closer. Moreover, should the agreement with
the Jordanian Government prove to be but a temporary
truce, a more unified terrorist movement could pose
a still greater threat to King Husayn.
2 Dec 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin
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USSR: The Soviets may be signaling a willingness
to talk about an accommodation with Intelsat, the
existing international communications satellite con-
sortium.
An article in a recent issue of the Soviet tele-
communications industry's leading journal endorses
the concept of a single global system, citing both
its economic and technical advantages. The article
suggests that the principles of such a system can be
worked out "if nations are willing to cooperate."
The article avoids any mention of Intersputnik,
the international system proposed by the USSR last
August. The Soviets had hoped with this proposal to
capitalize on the dissatisfaction of those among
Intelsat's 63 member nations who consider US control
of the organization excessive.
US pre-eminence within Intelsat is assured by
the principle that voting strength be apportioned
among members in accordance with each country's share
of international communications traffic. The key
provision of the Soviet proposal is its "one nation -
one vote" principle.
The Intersputnik plan was almost immediately
overshadowed by the invasion of Czechoslovakia, which
immediately provoked an adverse response to the So-
viet alternative and little has been heard about
it since.
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Philippines: President Marcos has formally ap-
proved the opening of trade with Communist countries,
but he appears disposed to delay a decision on diplo-
matic relations.
Marcos approved on 28 November a recommendation
of his foreign policy advisory council for experimental
trade with East European countries. Trade, which prob-
ably would be channeled through unofficial Philippine
organizations, would be limited to agricultural pro-
ducts which the Philippines. has found difficult to
dispose of in traditional Free World markets.
Although the Marcos administration has junked
the traditional Philippine policy of aloofness from
the Communist world, no precipitous moves toward
diplomatic relations are likely. There is still
strong sentiment in the Philippine Government against
diplomatic ties. The President on 24 November gave
his strongest public endorsement to date to eventual
diplomatic relations but said initial contacts would
be limited to East Europe. Marcos may defer any
decision on diplomatic contacts until after the r
i-
es
dential elections of November 1969. 25X1
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Nicaragua: Prospective year-end cabinet changes
are probably a prelude to a further extension of
President Somoza's personal power, and perhaps his
term of office as well.
The pending changes include two of the more ca-
pable and ambitious members of the ruling Nationalist
Liberal Party. Vice President and Minister of Public
Works Callejas will become minister of government, an
obscure post under a strong executive; and Minister
of Education Sacasa, a presidential aspirant, will
apparently be dropped from the cabinet entirely.
Somoza's five-year term ends in 1972, but there
have been persistent rumors that a constitutional
convention will convene next year and "legally" ex-
tend his term. The removal of Callejas and Sacasa
will not only make the two important ministeries more
responsive to Somoza's personal control, but would
lessen potential opposition to a constitutional con-
vention.
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Brazil: The Costa e Silva government's effort
to lift the congressional immunity of an opposition
deputy is again raising fears that the administration
will adopt more rigorously authoritarian measures.
The government wants to prosecute the deputy for a
speech he made in Congress that was highly critical
of the government and its military backers. The gov-
ernment's pressure tactics have angered many congress-
men, and the odds are now only about even that Con-
gress will cancel the deputy's immunity. If Congress
fails to grant permission for the trial, the President
may be forced to take more drastic action--perhaps
going as far as bypassing the Constitution and de-
claring a new "institutional act"--to satisfy the
intense pressure being brought to bear by military
leaders.
Portugal: Prime Minister Caetano's first "state
of the Republic" speech to the legislature on 27 No-
vember was warmly received by government supporters,
but opposition circles are disappointed. He reiter-
ated the theme of his inaugural address not to abandon
the objectives of the Salazar government while finding
new ways of alleviating social and economic problems.
Almost half of the speech was devoted to a re-affirma-
tion of Portugal's African policy. The more liberal
aspects of his improvement plans were modified by
reference to the intended continuation of an austerity
policy, to the Communist menace in Africa, and to
anarchic influence in the education system.
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