LETTER TO(Sanitized) FROM ALLEN W. DULLES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01731R000700010014-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: March 24, 1959
• Content Type: LETTER

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP80R01731 R000700010014-3
2 6 MAR 'tm
Deai DWIU:
vmt to t r ym V027 =Ch 20 Mr. # s
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back r ns daz` ca s3 ~~ and tit that t
lime to bwm 11 =w o Ou s 4
Radio ifs i Vd . in the AT-ab iior1d has
part Wit, am in to its hi, tra .ttrzr pawn and, as
states as anall, its appma to the largely t1l iter e,
eee-tia atis a Arab emesas. It is of imp to iscft,, - s
that its ~a3 a =or alas be fte to its wuWcdm in
abhich has far so hose been MAW]=m-d in the 1t#sidi a last.
*"w,, as air A atat" Jews the teabni of mdwu ;mow-
t l t MOptie b ~ Ws, their eoia , eta
tbou& s. 100 tter p mw.. dsOtdd
b iemrt? that if p r ag is *ufttc teeatY attract
t - ,atsr pa - to a of ie1ge Arab .P
t tiseg of ter OW eOUMU7 to t h" of E.
,.mss of geese, Oat t of og a key
f~ In attracting Arab weft , the foioe of Aaa te& has
immased the gmtlity eee V MU as the qtr Of i'ts. broadcasting
a Arab ld. We baUeft its presentation of AsMrians 232-
Arab s iratiaats was in
iz/3/q(
L~~mr Ali': ~. YY ISY.... .....I?....
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AUM VDuU*s
Mrmatw
STAT
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 ANK STAT
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,C,O
10
Next 3 Page(s) In Document Denied
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NA"iM. eROADCA iNQ OQM-AMY, INC,
NTERDEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE
W'I.I IAM R. HC ANI}R i
.oAn Febrwiry 26, 1959
sum Voice cv T]L APAW RRDT
Middle Bast, iii' fro* W 11es 'I ngrn NW New bureau
chief in the * ptian mepitaa.. ,U of this matsria
i arai2~-ble'? girt *iti"?a to.
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP80R01731 R000700010014-3
n r It ,.ia the r ot"olerful and effective coWonent of the kyptian
eduction The Voi i i 'the Arabs is the radio voice of (halal Abdasl
$roadcastin~ *t4 the Whole tptian?6yrIanpropaganda webin
1 # , ncrea es to itrutira in 1954 1,,1kWithtisn hours daily in 1956.
The VOiae' of thia?-,#arsba eras inaugurate ~dn,. Ju ,, 39x3, r lees than a
year after 'the taeeer4st+ttib rirolutitsa-; v t;tetan with ,. halt an how
V"' ing
Several of :the tram mit tir..t++tathA sa!rali stS b cAntlo-trench boaeb
asserts radio voiced.praachse his goepel'jot4rab nationalise and anti -iuprrialisar
Voice the Arabs %66 - "baroadcait"s it ht "Ib aorta daily
Reception of tbwr a'taAt or- _ r load r trrt~ +aut the entire ;Arab orld,#
o+ cu to , the,: Persian ,fit and as t fsr.; i w .Nigeria and' Soaaliland.
e Voice of` tree Arabs hae rrpYeated],r',.a asanstrst d its`~po r: to arm"
of Csiyro-.sl*o was! tart *ntal in 'ia itini the riots *that, led is t Tubb, u
iro broadaasts~4h$6*ich to do 4vttfr raat'ing "a ~41 t. of a tnion ,' n
feroar -b a t ~tio i .ter tb t. ': T[teu old Oro4J.st rn I%Ig sin: rttr `_
a :e+t ded tn;:tneutralizing the p tti" +i etf+act d!''' an br eta
The Voice o f 4M .lir~ab?''sbtra ono of
e gyn. ienoe to violent political act aa?'~'! tet~t abrirnrs credit it,
etaseato tones thet :appeal to the. i1 ;s asses
*!main role in pro?oking popular; ou bresks in Jordap ih Deoamder, 1955,'
.n General Ta lW:t. ird to brim the a tx7 into the Ba dad p&Ct*:, The
ke of th Iraqi re lu oh aaf w, t
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP80R01731 R000700010014-3
.ilarly, in Lebanon the Voice of the Arabs incited the Moslear to
last sums r1 s insurrection.- `It buoyed up their hopes with optimistic
reports of the i i.nent'eollapse of the'Chamoun recipe.
today the Voice of the.;Arabs and its `new appendage', ' the Voice of Free
re erfectively.etirring p nationalist senttmont in the Persian
Ind East A rica. The Cairo =radio also attacks Coemist influence
Z pt will "soon possess"; hemwit powerful m.di
wave transmitters in the Middle ' Est. One 150-kilwwattt Czech transmitter already
rating on medium rave'channels at Mansoura ih"!die Mile Delta. Another
t of similar capacity is being installed and 300 men kilowatts of mdiun-
c ity, for exceeding anything now in the area*
synod. This will :give' the Voice ' ' the Arabs a
with the Voice of America's 1504W transmit
Cast Chard cutter Courier anchored ott RhodesI. :Radio Baghdad, the
outside Cairo in the Arab world, "also has 1504W medium-.rave txana
installed shortly before the revolution last i*nr,
contestant in the Middle- East's radio rr ie striving to dire
Put aa.l rivals..: Egypt is linking the .fledgling Syrian Broadcasting System with
40ore powerful: tranemitter has been sent to Damascus,
ate Broadcasting) already" is uexchanging program, and staff with
eanon# now affiliated"with thiO riitid Arab -ubiio' in what is called flee
f is is la here a ay Egypt will, build a 704W ahedlusa-rav?'
Arab'? tr tes: This transmitter will relay programs to fast and ceentral
broadcast., bin the 5O-kW tr Mlittvr't ed by the,'' clandestine Voice oaf;
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP80R01731 R000700010014-3
Voice of America officials have already persuaded Congress to appropriate
funds for a land-based megawatt transmitter that will broadcast to the
~`iddle East and North Africa, supplanting the inadequate Courier. Best bet
is that the now American facility will be on Cyprus.
13BC programs in Arabic are relayed from Cyprus. British officials say
they intend to revive nn Arabic service originating on the island. But
acceptance of British broadcasts in the Arab world is now at low ebb.
During the first nine months of last year the Communist bloc increased
its broadcasts to the Arab world from about sixty-nine hours to more than
eighty-one hours weekly. Red China alone stepped up her transmissions to
Arab countries by seventeen percent.
ESB now broadcasts a total of sixty-one hours and forty minutes daily.
This includes eight hours for the Voice of the Arabs' three hours for the Sudzi,
almost nineteen hours for the Cairo local service in Arabic and nineteen hours
and fifteen minutes to overseas points,
Cairo also broadcasts a local service in European languages ten hours and
forty-five minutes daily as well as a Third Program (patterned on the BBC)
for two hours a day.
In addition to the-so transmissions, the Voice of .Free Africa originates
from four to four and a half hours daily in African languages,
The Voice of the Arabs broadcasts exclusively in Arabic although there
is a French-language progtam beamed to North Africa. Cairo radio itself broad..
casts in seventeen languages, Indonesian, Malay, Bengali, Urdu, Swahili, Amharic,
Somali, Hebrew, Kurdish, Turkish, Persian.,' French., Ocrman, English, Italian,
Spanish, Portuguese (to Brazil).,
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Thcre also are spp:ci3l programs in Algerian and Sudanese dialect.
The Voice of Free Africa has initiated broadcasts in Tegrene to parts
of Ethiopia, and Afrikaans and Lingua Africa to Central Africa, in addition
to Arabic and the other main African languages.
A staff of more thin 1,000 is employed by EBB. The Voice of Free Africa
reportedly 1s operated directly by the Intelligence service of the Egyptian
Arrry,
'M's staff is well paid by Egyptian standards. Ahmed Said, the leading
norrentator of the Voice of the Arabs and the most famous radio name in the
Arab world, is reputedly one of the best paid men in Egypt.
Many Egyptian radio personnel have been trainod abroad. Ahated laher,
controller of overseas broadcasting and reportedly boss of the Voice of
Free Africa, spent twelve years in London with the BBC Arabic service. The
former news director of the station took part of his training at NBC. At least,
two Egyptian radio men have been sent to Moscow for on-the-job experience.
Staff has also been recruited from abroad. Three announcers for the new
Voice of Kurdistan eervie are reported to have been provided bgr the Soviet
Union. The Algerian rebels (FLN) broadcast regularly over Cairo facilities in
both Arabic and French to their supporters in Algeria. Political renegades,
including several known Communists, from Zanzibar, southern Arabia, the Persian
dalf, and Central Africa are also on the FSB staff.
A modernistic headqunrters building will be completed for' E5B and
associated services in about two years. It will be Just north of the now
Nile Hilton fronting on the river,. Officials in Cairo say the now building
also will have facilities for television broadcasts.
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The director of Nasser's powerful radio is Mohamed Amin Hamad, a hulking
1 -year-old former prosecuting attorney wino became chief of censorship after
the 1952 revolution. Hamad has never been out of Egypt. He speaks little
English. But he is an iron-fisted administrator and considered 100 percent
reliable politically.
Hamad has sprinkled agents of 'Egyptian Intelligence throughout
One of these is a shadowy figure named Mohamad Abdel [ader, so-oalled Political
Controller of the Voice of the Arabs and a very important person in the whole
operation.
The director of the Voice of the Arabs is Yehya Abu Bakr, a moderate
who replaced the vitriolic Ahmed Said after the latter's campaign to have
King Hussein assassinated backfired last year.
Radio policy is laid down by Masser himself operating through a Supreme
Broadcasting, Council whose chairman is Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Eader Hatay
a former Army Intelligence officer who now holds the position of Deputy
Minister for Presidential Affairs in charge of Information and Broadcasting.
Hntem is deceptively soft-.spoken and astute in the intricacies of Oriental
intrigue. He often gives final approval for a "sensitive" political
commontary.
Organization - The fiction is maintained that ESB is an autonomous corporation
independent of political control by the government and similar to the BBC.
This was in fact the original conception 'when the tgyptian government ant-bred
the broadcasting field in 1947. Today, however, official control of g;SB is omr-i-
present and omnipotent.
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP80R01731 R000700010014-3
There also has been an attempt to portray the Voice of the Arabs as
separate and distinct from WD, It is said to be a privately operated
station speaking for the "Arab people." This is a transparent sWth. The
Voice of the Arabs, and ESB Use the same staff in many departments, operate
in the same headquarters and work under the same strict political control.
Because of the effort to maintain those fictions and the regime's
obscsston with security, ESB and the Voice of the Arabs have been shielded
from inquisitive eyes. Hoavy police guards armed with rifles are mounted
around TSB buildings twenty-four hours a day. Access to studios and newsrooms
iu rigorously controlled.
Effectiveness . Egyptian radio has achieved its.remnrkable degree of
effectiveness because it pseaches an inflammatory gospel of revolt and
revival that appeals to the largely illiterate, nationalistic Arab masseq.
Radio rE.ceivure are fiirly widespread in the Middle East, enabling Cairo
to project its message into the smallest hamlet.
For example, there are some 800,000 sets in Egypt alone. Syria is
thrurht to have 300,800 for a population of less than 5 million. Iraq has
about the same number of receivers for a slightly larger population. Morocco
has about h30,000 sets for her 11 million people.
Cairo radio is closely linked to the rest of Nasser's propaganda machine.
It rceularly broadcasts editorials from the Cairo press. It carries Nasser's
own speeches. It mixes news and political commentary with propaganda-laden
"ontor,ainment" programs, including dramatic productions.
The former Egyptian Minister of National Guidance has said, "The mission
of ESB is to make the voice of Egypt and her revolution heard all over the world."
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP80R01731 R000700010014-3
The "voice" is an effective exponent and propagator of Nasser's
brand of nationalism. It is not a substitute for policy and never will be.
Without Nsssor and his mass appeal, Cairo radio's tirades would lose such
Af their impact,
indeed, there is tvidence that Cairo radio quickly loses effectiveness
when Egyptian policy goes astray as it did in April 1957 when King busaein
outwitted pro-Egyptian elements in Jordan who sought to dethrone him.
Cairo at that time reported blood was running in the streets of Auran,
It e;:horted the Palestine refugees and other Jordanians to rime against the
Yinr. The reports were so patently fuse that the exhortations lost their
i3t~ hence ,
One thing is important to remember. Violence of language is nothing
now in the Arab world. The Voice of the Arabs did not invont political
diatribes and invective. These arc staalos in the Arab world rf very ancient
vint-ire.
Lan guagej especially the Arabic tongue, is an art form in the Arab world.
It is expected to be used that way, particularly against one's enemies. This
mcuns that expressions of exaggerated ferocity are repeatedly used without
any thought being given to their real meaning. For exagq lei an Egyptian
peasint will often say to his wayward son, "I'll cut your throat unless
you behave." Of course, he has no thought of murdering his offspring.
It is a typically violent Arab way of speaking.
The impact of Cairo radio is, therefore, primarily the product of its
nationalist message and only secondarily the effeot of its intemperate
language. Actually the two go hand in hand.
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The West can never compete on these tersm with Cairo. It can only
deliver its own inossare in its own vernacular. The only antidote to
Cairo radio is a policy that Will align the West, especially the United
f
States, with the aspirations of the Arabs which Cairo seeks to emploit in
w..ys repugnint to everyone but the Arabs.
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