CIA OPERATIONS CENTER AFTERNOON SUMMARY OF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600050013-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 24, 2004
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: September 18, 1978
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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LAS
CIA OPERATIONS CENTER
AFTERNOON SUMMARY OF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
18 September 1978
CAMP DAVID REACTIONS
1. United States: President Carter will address a joint session of
Congress tonight at 8 pm EDT. The President was scheduled to meet this
afternoon with Congressional leaders to review the Summit talks. Mean-
while, the Summit accords were drawing nearly unanimous, bipartisan
praise from Capitol Hill. Former Secretary of State Kissinger also
praised the Camp David agreements as a "major achievement," although
he warned of the danger of backsliding. (AP)
2. Arab: In the Arab world, Syria and the PLO have denounced the summit
agreements. A spokesman for Yasir Arafat complained that the accords
ignored Palestinian rights to an independent state, while Syrian ra o
has reiterated President Asad's rejection-in-advance of any settleme t
that might emerge from Camp David. Meanwhile, the PLO, Syria, Algeria,
Libya, and South Yemen are going ahead with plans to hold a summit con-
ference of their own in Damascus on Wednesday.
No official statements have been made thus far in Amman in response
to the summit accords. The conservative oriented Jordanian daily Al Rai,
however, noted that the agreements keep the door open between Egypt and
Israel at the expense of deepening inter-Arab differences.
Arabs on the occupied West Bank are divided on the outcome at Camp
David. Pro PLOers reject the settlement, while pro-Jordanian types
have responded positively.
Reaction from Arab states in Persian Gulf has been sparse and
cautious. No public reaction has been noted as yet from Saudi Arabia.
Egyptian reaction to the outcome at Camp David has been enthusiastic,
but many Egyptians are fearful of negative responses from other parts of
the Arab world. Egyptian officials have been unavailable for comment on
reports that Foreign Minister Kamel and others had resigned in disagree-
ment over concessions made by President Sadat. (Various press ticker)
3. Soviet: The Soviets, in their first response to the Camp David accords,
accuse President Sadat of a complete surrender to Israel. The Soviets
see the end product of the Summit as an approval of Prime Minister
Begin's plans for a Mideast peace settlement. (Reuter)
4. Israel: Initial reactions from both the population and politicians in
Israel was, for the main, euphoric. The most favorable official reactions
came from the peace groups and the opposition Labor Party. The most
strident criticism came from hard-line members of Beqin's own Likud Party.
While reactions from such persons are harshly critical of the agreement,
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they are also very few and isolated in the overall joy and excitement
with which last night's announcement was received in Israel.
Differences in interpretation as to what was actually agreed to
have already arisen. Sunday night, "American officials" told reporters
that Israel had committed itself to establish no new settlements in the
West Bank area during the negotiations for Palestinian autonomy. The
implication was that Israel would not expand existing settlements or
create new ones. Begin later told Israeli reports that he had only
promised to halt settlement activity during the period of actual "peace
negotiations." "It is," he said, "inconceivable that we would give such
a commitment for five years. We did not commit ourselves for the dura-
tion of the peace talks."
Another possible future sticking point ;is East Jerusalem. Begin
said that it is Israel's. unalterable position that Jerusalem will remain
"inseparable forever as the capital of the state of Israel."
Begin told Israeli reporters that negotiations with Egypt will begin
in exactly two weeks (on 2 October). He further said that the future of
Israeli settlements in the Sinai would be decided by the Knesset. Party
discipline will not be enforced in the vote on this question. All members
of Parliament will "vote their conscience."
According to Begin, the US will build two new air bases for Israel
in the Negev Desert. These new bases will be located on the original
Egyptian-Israeli border. They are intended to provide Israel with the
same strategic advantages currently offered by their bases in the Sinai.
(Various press)
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
5. Nicaragua: The National Guard in Nicaragua is reportedly mopping up
one of the last two centers of rebel resistence in northwest Nicaragua
today, although Sandinista resistance is strong. In Managua, business-
men announced their determination to continue the general strike launched
August 25 to force Somoza's resignation.
A commission from the OAS arrived in Costa Rica to investigate the
charge that a Nicaraguan plane attacked a truck inside the Costa Rican
border. Moreover, the OAS voted by a 23-1 margin to convene a hemis-
pheric Foreign Ministers conference on the situation. The meeting is
scheduled for Thursday September 21. (AP City, UPI)
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EUROPE/USSR
6. French-West German Economic Talks: ~onfirmed
that the Giscard-Schmidt talks at ac en produced an accord on a
parity grid plan for linking currencies--almost identical to the
current European currency arrangement, or'snake. Also agreed upon
were an initial supply of European currency units (ECU) for use among
central banks. These proposals were to be set forth before the EC
foreign ministers meeting today in-Brussels. (Dow Jones)
7. Turkey: Republican Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Feyzioglu
has unexpectedly resigned from the Ecevit government. Feyzioglu's
resignation will not bring down the government, but his withdrawal
will have a psychological impact because he is a highly respected
politician. (FBIS)
LATE-BREAKING NEWS DEVELOPMENTS
Camp David Outcome -
Jordan: President Cartier today telephoned King Hussein in Amman. The
King declined to comment on the Egyptian-Israeli agreement; he wants
time to study it. The King cut. short his vacation abroad to return to
Amman following the Camp David agreement. Analysts see additional com-
plications in the Israeli veto rights over the Palestinian participants
in the West Bank negotiations. This right presumably precludes a PLO
presence, which is also a roadblock to Jordanian participation. (UPI)
Israel: Prime Minister Begin told Israeli reporters that Israel intends
to keep its own forces in the West Bank area even after the five-year
transition period. (AP)
Jerusalem: "A senior American official" says that an exchange of
letters Monday will show that the US position on the status of Jeru-
salem is unchanged: the US does not recognize Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel. (UPI)
Western diplomatic sources disclosed that a Soviet TU-144 is believed
to have crashed during a test flight earlier this year. The sources
hinted that signs of this crash showed up on US satellite reconnais-
sance photographs of Soviet territory. (Reuter)
ST
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Late items (Cont'd)
Imants Vishinskys, a Latvian-born Soviet translator at the United
Nations and a Major in the Soviet KGB defected to the US.with his
wife and daughter and asked for political asylum, Latvian exile
sources said today. Full details will be published in the Brooklyn-
based Latvian-exile newspaper "Laiks" in the issue going to press
tonight. Vishinskys and his family defected in Washington over the
Labor Day weekend. The CIA now has them in a safehouse in the
Virginia countryside. (UPI)
Ronald Humphrey, the USIA employee convicted of spying for
Vietnam, was released from prison pending the.. outcome of an appeal
which is expected to last at least two years.. The judge who freed
Humphrey placed no conditions on him, other than to direct him to
appear in court if ordered to do so. (AP)
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