LETTER OF INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260015-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: October 5, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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5 October:1966:
MEMORANDUM FOR: Bureau Chiefi
SUBJECT: Letter of InfoimatiOn-
GENERAL.
le African Bureau Situation:- Acts of Violence and harrassment against.
Ibos by undisciplined soldiers and-groUps'of ruffians continued in.Northern--
Nigeria.- On 16:September.army and policepatrols were summoned-to the FBIS
non-Staff het:sins area when a group of,arded soldiers came looking for Ibbs.,-
The African staff Was reassured by this prompt action and.other steps by
the bureau chief for their-protection, but nevertheless-seven Ibo employees
requested and'were'granted leave so they tould return 'to their homes in-
the Eastern Region.'- A-combination of heavy rains and the flight of-lb?
technicians from the North caused severe outages'of the bureau's communications
to Lagos:.
Bi the 'end of September repots of; fUrther? violence and the breakdown ?
of essential services were being received through the State Department,
and a dusk to dawn curfeW was-iMposed'in Kaduna: The East Coast Bureau and.
the BBC began" backstopping coverage of Lagos international broaddasts on
30 September,-and coVerage'of-West Africa from AFT, and Reuters was stepped
up. -Investigation of possible fallbaok sites continued..
The Lency Director has approved the; Intelligence Star for
Chief of the Afriean Bureau,- for outstanding service under
e reme fic?lt and hazardous condition's during the January 1966 coup
in Nigeria.. This-is understood to be the firat award of the Intelligence
Star in the DD/I?elied'o- Former African'Bureau'Senior Editor
and Engineer have been awarded Certificates of Merit
Distinction for their service-in- Kaduna.,- (SECRET)
with
2. -Saigon Situation: The increasing teMpo of the constituent assembly
election campaign during late August wasinatched by an escalation of terrorism
and antieleetion propaganda- by the Viet Cons...Following reports that
assassination teaMs had been'offetedbounties to'kul high-ranking American-
officials, the guards-for these offi'cials were doubled. ? From 10 to 121-
September, the 'petiod of the elections, .a curfew was-imposed on all
Americans, &cep-6 for performance of official duties, and most recreational
and shopping facilities vete-closed; Requirements on the tureau?for-
Group 1-
Excluded from automatic-downs,-
S.:E-C.:.R-E-T-? grading and declassification
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'SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 5 October 1966
election comment from the Liberation and Hmoi radios, and other special
requirements levied by offices of the U.S. Mission, increased as official
interest in the elections grew. (CONFIDENTIAL)
3. Mediterranean Bureau Developments: The Emba2sy in Nicosia.
received word from Washington that a Greek Cypriot member of the GOC
delegation in the United States had expressed concern over an PHIS item
meting a Voice of Cyprus report on the Greek-Turkish dialog. The GOC
delegate felt that reports from the Nicosia radio, not pro-Turkish radios,
should be published, and thet anti-Greek items of this type should not
be circulated to foreign embassies in Washington. Since the mat ber may
be reported back to the Cyprus Government, the acting DCM talked with the
Director of Public Information and explained FBIE policy.
The bureau's evacuation plan is being revised on the basis of
information received by the EMbassy during talks with the 0-amender of the
Canadian U.N. contingent based in the Kyrenia area. The Cyprus National
Guard unit stationed in the bureau's antenna field has begun construction
of reinforced concrete buildings which are more extensive than the barracks
? originally agreed to. The problem is being raised with the Kyrenia
District Officer.
In early September the bureau assumed full coverage of Cairo
domestic broadcasts and MENA transmissions in Arabic. (SECRET)
4. Bangkok_Project: In mid-September, bureau chief
and Hokkaido engineer began a site and facilities survey
in the Bangkok area to locate a suitable building for the pexiected
Bangkok Bureau. On 23 September Headquarters authorized rental of a
large house in the Bangkok suburbs. Preliminary inquiries inlicated that
acceptable administrative, fiscal, and communications support, would be
available from the Embassy and U.S. military components, but the problem
of getting U.S. EMbassy and Thai Government approval to the transfer of
third country nationals from Saigon to Bangkok must still be resolved.
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5. Caribbean Bureau Progress: Bureau Chief and 50X1
multilingual mcnitors reported for 50X1
.duty 19 September, late August, and early September respectively.
Recruiting which began earlier this year in Puerto Rico and through
Headquarters has yielded several promising Spanish monolingual candidates.
The bureau initiated coverage of Brazilian voicecasts in early September,
with the West Coast Bureau covering late evening broadcasts. Installation
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SUBJECT:. Letter of Information, 5 October 1966
Of equipment in the monitor trainee van, which provides positions for
a cruising monitor and three monitor trainees, was completed 31 August.
The construction contract was about 9 percent complete on 31 August.
(URCLASSIFIED)
6. Hokkaido Bureau Relocation: The formal land transfer documents
for the projected new Hokkaido Bureau operations site at Chitose III
have been received from the Sapporo Defense Facilities Administrative
Bureau, and the antenna layout and floor plans for the new establishment
have been approved. Preliminary work for an Air Force Project, which will
eventually occupy the present Chitose I site, will be started prior to
the bureau's move, but Air Force representatives have agreed not to do any
work which might interfere with FBIS operations. (SECRET)
7. Special Services: The Warsaw Pact joint maneuvers at Vltava,
Czechoslovakia, scheduled for the letter part of Sentembe- were the
foCus of considerable consumer attention, television
coverage, pl - - ranwa- - 'eginter, prompted
a request to to obtain videotapes
of any material. broadcast by the East Europe Intervision network. Also,
the London, German, and Austrian bureaus were asked to file material on
the maneuvers to the Collection Branch, USAREUR Intelligence Division.
An Agency component prepared a report on world publicity thvs far on
Bertrand Russell's proposed U.S. war crimes trial, to be held in Paris
at the end of the year. A considerable portion of the materiel 'was based
on FBIS items flagged to Liaison by the field bureaus and fcrwarded to the
consumer. The project continues.
Bureaus filled several requests for tapes: The West Coast Bureau
recorded several samples of VOA Mandarin broadcasts for use in a study by
an Agency component of the type of material being broadcast into
Mainland China. Key West sent to Graphics Register Hanna videotapes of
appearances by two U.S. folklore specialists: singer Barbara Dane and
writer Irving Silber. The East Coast Bureau supplied a tape of a Raul
Roa statement on the Cuban refugee question. (SECRET)
8. Lateral Services: On 6 August, the London and Mediterranean
bureaus began filing through VOA Munich to the expanded VOA Arabic program
center in Rhodes all material from Arab and Israeli transmitters and
clandestines beamed to Arab countries. Following a visit by the Chief of
the Key West Bureau to the Coast Guard office in Miami, the requirement
by the Coast Guard, which also services the State Department Coordinator
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 5 October 1966
of Cuban Affairs, was modified to include only material on Cuba, Brazil,
Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. (CONFIDENTIAL)
9. Uses of FBIS Materials: During the month, embassy and consulate
cables from Nigeria made frequent reference to FBIS material, with
special attention to speeches by Eastern Military Governor Ojukwu on
28 August and 12 September. In South Vietnam, the overriding interest
of U.S. Mission offices in the local elections was reflected in
requirements on the Bureau for related comment by the Liberation and
Hanoi radios. A lengthy briefing paper on Viet Cong reaction to the
.election, issued by the Embassy political section, drew extensively from
the material. The State Department sent a priority cable to the U.S.
Embassy, Bangkok, containing the text of an FBIS-monitored .47P report of
9 September that Prince Sihanouk was ready to initiate a reconciliation
between Cambodia and Thailand.
The Chief, Liaison and Requirements Staff, was recently told
by the chief of the White House Situation Room that he frequently sends
up for the President's attention items directly out of the IBIS Daily
Reports.
Eleven percent of the items appearing in the OCI Digest during
August were based wholly or in part on FBIS-monitored items. (CONFIDENTIAL)
10. Research and Analysis Services: Continuing services related to
Vietnam included supplying State and Agency offices with information on
Eanoi and Liberation Radio comment on the South Vietnamese elections,
Soviet references to Soviet missiles in the DRV, and Peking comment on
the antiwar movement in the United States over the last few months.
The Chinese "cultural revolution" and further deterioration of
Sino-Soviet relations prompted a State Department request for the broadcast
pattern of the Mao directive and comments on the directive since it was
issued. ORB was supplied with Survey and Trends articles and material
from the War Themes file in response to a request for Soviet and CPR
references to the validity of the Sino-Soviet treaty in the past two years.
In connection with the recent Soviet Foreign Ministry protest to the CPR
against abuses of Soviet embassy personnel in Peking, OCI was given
information on the last Soviet protests to China, in March 1965 and
September 1963. Examples of Peking usage of the phrase "blood debts must
be paid in blood" were assembled from the War Themes file for the State
Department.
Other services included locating for the Arms Control Disarmament
Agency a Khrushchev statement in Finland in June 1957 regarding Arctic
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 5 October 1966
zone inspection, and an article in Red Star from the Indian publication
Mainstream. RPD was able to confirm for NPIC that Radio Moscow had
reported an earthquake in Irkutsk in late August. Agency requesters
were assisted in obtaining the date of a Kim Il-song speech on revisionism,
a Bertrand Russell charge concerning American soldiers' "crimes" against
pregnant South Vietnamese women, a list of delegates to the July 1966
international physics colloquium in Peking, and confirmation that
Soviet media did not carry any. congratulatory messages from the Cubans
to the Soviet leaders on their reappointment. (SECRET)
11. Supplements and Reports: Premier Fidel Castro's 29 August
address at the Cuban labor congress was published as a Daily Report
supplement on 31 August. An 8 August AKAHATA article on communist united
action on Vietnam was printed as a Daily Report supplement on 25 August.
At White House request, a review of worldwide reaction to the South
Vietnamese elections was prepared by Editorial Division in contanction
with RPD and distributed to consumers of the Wire and the FBIS Bulletin
on 14 September.
A review of Chinese Communist radio and press propaganda on
the Red Guard movement from Peking's first references to it on 18 August
through the rally at the end of the month, when Chou En-lai and Lin
Piao discussed its role and future, was issued as a supplement to the
1 September issue of the RPD Survey. Background was also provided on
the situation in Heilungkiang Province, where Red Guard units took part
in an attack on the provincial party committee.
A Radio Propaganda Report on CEMA developments updated a
1 October 1963 report on CEMA, with tables showing the announced
attendance of CEMA member states and observers at meetings of the
organization from August 1963 through June 1966. (CONFIDENTIAL)
12. Briefings and Visits:
visited Headquarters for discussions on 2 and 14 September respectively.
Milan Kravanja, Bureau of Foreign Fisheries, Department of Interior,
an enthusiastic consumer of Shipping Briefs and Abstracts, was given a
tour of Headquarters. He recently returned from negotiations in Moscow
with the USSR on fisheries.
Officers of the 513th Intelligence Corps Groups visited the
German Bureau's Camp King television monitoring facility on 13 September
to observe monitoring of a military parade in East Berlin marking the
fifth anniversary of the Berlin Wall. Mr. Carl Davis, chief of USIA's
Miami office, was briefed at the Key West Bureau 26 August. He described
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 5.0ctober,1966
the bureau's file as invaluable to his office. Maj. Gen. Bruce E. Kendall,
deputy commanding general, USARYIS, and Mi. Jamet C. Miller', the 'new VOA
manager in Okinawa, visited the Okinawa' Bureau fortriefings in August:
.(SECRET) ?
13. Hurricane Inez: Hurricane Inez, which wreaked havoc in the
Leewaid Itlands of the West IndieS in the lett week of SePtember, Caused
Caribbean Bureau Construction and operations to halt for-one'ddy on
28-29 September as it bore down on Puerto Rico. However, the main force
,of the storm passed just south of the island and there was no damage at
the bureau site.
Inez approached Florida on 1 October, causing the Key West
Bureau to move its equipment to safe storage and suspend operations for
40, hours on 2-3 October. No damage was incurred, and the bureau had been
back in operation for 25 hours when Inez unexpectedly reversed course'
and veered back to the Keys with 100-mphwinds.. The bureau again
evacuated, suspending operations at 1700 GMT on 14' October. The bureau
chief reported on the afternoon of 5.0ctober that the bureau had
weathered the hurricane's second pass With no damage exCept the loss
of a secondary 'antenna. HoWever, in view of repOrts that Inez was
standing off-shore in the Gulf' of Mexico and building up wind velocity,'
movement of equipment back to the operations building was delayed pending
the storm's 'next move. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
FIELD OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING
14. Tagalog Monitoring: During preparations for Philippines President
:Marcos' visit to Washington in mid-September, the State Department made
high-level representations to FBIS for coverage of Peking broadcasts in
Tagalog. At Headquarters request, the Okinawa Bureau quickly recruited
a contract monitor and began wirefiling program summaries on 3 September.
Later the bureau began filing selected items: (CONFIDENTIAL)
15. Trans-Pacific Communications: The Saigon and Tokyo Alfa circuits,
which ,have been on cable west of Honolulu since, last January, have now
been placed in cable channels between Honolulu and Washington. This
eliminates a radio link of more than 5,000 miles which was a major source
of Communicatiohs trouble. (CONFIDENTIAL)
16. AUTODIN Communications: The tie-line between FBIS Headquarters
and the new AUTODIN relay at Ft. Detrick', Md. was' installed 15 September
and is scheduled to be activated in October. Western Union will install
AUTODIN eqhipment in the Headquarters communications center in the near
future. (CONFIDENTIAL)
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 5 October 1966
?'17. Headgliarters Communications Outagt: On 14 September a number of
circuits, including Wire Service circuits, were put out of service by heavy
rains which flooded underground telephone coipany cables in Rosslyn.
Somm -common user circuits were rerouted and all, allocated and Wire Service
circuits were restored about 12 hours after failure. (CONFIDENTIAL)
18 Broadcasting Developments: Moscow radio has expanded its service
in Vietnamese 67 percent by adding four daily 30-minute broadcasts.
_After sampling showed that the new programs contained repeat materiel they
were Placed in backstop coverage status.. Moscow also announced a l4-hour-
per-week increase in its Mandarin broadcasts to China but the new programs
have not been heard so far: On 1 September Moscow radio introduced'
Punjabi broadcasts in its service to India and Pakistan, which now totals
95 hours a week in. seven languages. .The Okinawa Bureau is covering the
first Punjabi program and checking content of the second from recordings
made at the Mediterranean Bureau. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
ADMINISTRATION
19. Re atori_ifluances: The following regulatory issuances were
.disseminated: CONFIDENTIET
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, $ October 1966
EDITORIAL
1. Support for Wire Service: Field editors are again urged to
draw on their familiarity with events occurring in their coverage .areas
and their.relationship.with monitors to call attention, through separate
FYI's or editor's note in,the copy, to significant elements in'items
whose: importance may not be readily apparent to hard-pressed Wire editors
or which are buried in otherwise routine copy. Bureaus are encouraged
to make use of the FBIS Bulletin to apprise field editors and monitors of
important developments in areas outside their coverage responsibilities
and regarding which the initial reaction or absence of reaction of sources
within their coverage areas would be significant and should be reported
in FYI's.
2. Editorial Handbook: The revised edition of the FIS Editorial
Handbook was returned from the printers and pouched to all bureaus on
.2 September.
PERSONNEL
3. New Employees
Assignment
Editor, ME/APR/WE/LA Branch, Editorial Div.
Intel Analyst, Research Branch, Radio Prop. Div.
Secretary, Administrative Staff
Librarian, Reference Library, Editorial Div.
Typist, Publications Branch, Editorial Div.
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4.
Reassignments
From
To
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Asst. Chief Engineer
Engineer
Mediterranean Bureau
Engineering Staff
Chief
Intel. Officer
Saigon Bureau
Executive Staff
Chief
Operations Officer
Key West Bureau
Okinawa Bureau
Teletypist
Teletypist
East Coast Bureau
Editorial Division
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SUBJECT: . Letter of Information, 5 October 1966
It.
Reassignments
(Cant' d)
From
To
? .
Administrative Officer
Administrative Officer
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Tokyo Bureau
London Bureau
Monitor
Monitor
East Coast Bureau
Caribbean .Bureau
Editor
Editor
Editorial Division
African Bureau
Deputy Chief
Deputy Chief
East Coast Bureau
Mediterranean Bureau
Senior Editor
Senior Editor, Mire
London Bureau
Service Branch,
Editorial Division
Editor
Editor
London Bureau
West Coast Bureau
Chief Editor
Chief, Liaison &
Okinawa Bureau
Requirements Staff
'Editor
Editor
West Coast Bureau
Okinawa Bureau
Chief
Chief, Executive
Mediterranean Bureau
Staff
Chief Editor
Mediterranean Bureau
Chief, USSR & EE Wrench,
Editorial Division
Senior Editor
Section Chief, FE
Tokyo Bureau
Branch, Editorial
Division
Librarian
Editorial Division
Editor, FE Branch,
Editorial Division
5.
Separations
From
Teletypist, Editorial Division
Teletypist, Editorial Division.
Secretary, Executive Staff
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 5 October 1966.
6, Till in Headsaarters
- London Bureau, orientation while on.home leave
- Orientation enroute from Tokyo Bureau to
London Bureau
-.Orientation enroute from London Bureau to
Okinawa Bureau
- Orientation enroute from Okinawa Bureau to
London Bureau
7.. Award
- German Bureau - icate of Merit
rec or
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
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