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- 13 April 195 l
• 3.5(c)

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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
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• 3.5(c)
• 3.5(c)

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• Office of Current Intelligence

• CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

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3.5(c)
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3.5(c)
T~ET

SUMMARY

GENERAL'
1. Frenc h favor relax ing East- West trade restr ictio ns (page
3).

3.3(h)(2)

FAR EAST
3. Japan ese Prem ier shake n at MacA rthur 's dism issal (page
4).

NEAR EAST
4. Furth er devel opme nts on the Syria n-Isr aeli dispu te (page 5).

EAST ERN EUROPE

5. Repo rted Gree k propo sal to parti tion Alban ia clarif ied (page
5).

WESTERN EUROPE
6. Cons idera ble disag reem ent evide nt as final Schw nan Plan talks
opene d (page 6).

7. Cryp to-Co mmu nists may acqu ire new press organ for peace
camp aign (page 7).

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GENERAL
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1. French favor relaxing East-West trade restrictions: - ~ {.__ -

3.3(h)(2),::.
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,.,,1 ✓

the French delegation at the Paris Depu- 3.3(h)(2)

ties' Conference proposed to the UK dele- r·
gation that, even if a Conference of Foreign
Mini.sters fails to produce an agreement, a modus vivendi be sought
with the East which would involve the "normalization and liberalization"
of trade between East and West Germany. It was argued that this would
eliminate the "present strong incentives for illegal trading. " The eco-
nomic adviser to the British High .Commissioner in Germany was re-
ported to have vigorously counseled the UK delegation in Paris to oppose
any relaxation of restrictions, pointing out that East-West trade serves
to increase the armament potential and enhance the self-sufficienc y of
the Soviet bloc.

Comment: The French proposal would

undo the progress made so far by the West German Government in
cooperating with the West in this matterj and would nullify all Western
export control measures in Germany. Moreover, despite the admittedly
hugr~ illegal trade in Germany, a much larger volume of trade is being
effectively blocked.

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3.3(h)(2).'

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3.3(h)(2)

FAR EAST )
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3. Japanese Premier shaken at MacArthur's dismissal: 3.3(h)(2)

US Political Advisor Sebald reports that

when Japanese Premier Yoshida was ad-
vised of General MacArthur's dismissal,
he was "visibly shaken" and stated that
the General's departure would come as a "tremendous shock" to the
Japanese people. Yoshiru:t told Sebald that he attributed the retention
of the institution of the Emperor to the General's influence. When Se-
bald stated that he personally hoped that the Cabinet would not feel
that the rule of traditional "responsibility" _should be applied in this
case and would instead carry on during the initial period of General
Ridgeway 9 s take-over, Yoshida assured him that it would do so. Yo-
shida stated that the Emperor and the Cabinet would be "greatly heartened"
to learn that the US cooperative policy toward Japan and toward the
question of a peace treaty remains unchanged.

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NEAR EAST
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4. F_urther developments on the Syrian-Israeli dispute: -·3.3(h)(2)

According to US ,Ambassador Davis in Tel

Aviv, US representations on the Syrian-
Israeli border dispute have had some effect
on the course of events, but this has been
off-set to some extent by the unwillingness
of the Israeli Government to make conces-
sions. Commenting on the partial mobili-
. zation of Syrian troops along the frontier,
Davis stated that several tanks have reinforced the Israeli defense forces
which are consolidated west of the Lake Hule-Tiberias region. Mean-
while, General Riley, Chairman of the Mixed Armistice Commission, has
informed the US UN delegation in New York. that the Israelis violated
the armistice agreement by having armed police in the El Hamma region
last week and that the Israelis should not have pushed ahead with the
Lake Hule drainage project without prior agreement from the Syrians
and local Arabs.

Comment: The succession of border inci-

dents last week along the Syrian-Israeli frontier has considerably aggra-
vated the tension between the two countries in spite of the attempts of
the US, UK/ and France to restrain both sides. Israel's adamant posi-
tion in the controversy, the unstable political situation in Syria, and
the hostility of the Arab States g,eneraUy toward Israel are factors which
will make it increasingly difficult to prevent. border clashes in the future.

EASTERN EUROPE
( 3.3(h)(2)
5. Reported Greek proposal to partition Albania clarified:

US Ambassador Peurifoy reports that Greek

Prime Minister Venizelos has clarified a
previous report about a~ alleged Greek-
Yugoslav plan for partitioning Albania. Veni-
zelos stated that when the Yugoslav Minister in Athens questioned him

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in the Balk ans, he sug-

rega rdin g Gre ek acti on if war wer e to brea k out
atta ck from the rear by
gest ed that the two cou ntri es shou ld prev ent an
nia. Ven izel os expl aine d
und erta king si.m ulta neou s offe nsiv es agai nst Alba
tact ics in the even t of
that his rem arks appl ied excl usiv ely to mili tary zed that he had not
hasi
a Sov iet-i nitia ted war in the Balk ans, and emp
acti on initi ated by Gre ece
mea nt a P.Olitical part ition of Alb ania or mili tary
or Yugoslavia.. 3.3(h)(2)

--- --- --- --- ~A m~ ~b ass ad or Peu rifo y also repo rts that
1
d, - - ~ - - - - : - - = - - - - - - - - - - : - - - _ _ J
r - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~ / i s conv ince
~I

--------:~---:---------.~_
~--=-----------=~tary ____JI that Yug osla via now wish es at leas t a
ng to
basi c mili und erst andi ng with Gre ece and Turk ey. Acc ordi shou ld
/ /exp ress ed the opinion. that the thre e cou ntri es
field in the even t of a
now agre e on wha t forc es they would put i:nto the imp lem enti ng this idea .
Balk an war , but mad e no con cret e suggestio:n for
33
Com men t: Beli evin g that an inde pend ent - (h)(2
)
a succ essf ul Sov iet-i nspi red
and Wes tern -ori ente d Yug osla via would hind er
cons isten tly supp orte d
inva sion of Gre ece from the nort h, Gre ece has
Wes t. Yug osla via has
Wes tern effo rts to tie Tito mor e clos ely to the tary coop erat ion, but
thus far resi sted Gre ek ove rtur es rega rdin g mili ed con cern ove r the
i.t may be revi sing this posi tion beca use
of heig hten
poss ibili ty of a Sate llite atta ck.

WESTERN EUROPE -✓
C !~~
1
Schu man Plan talk s open ed: ~, :_~
1

6. Con side rabl e disa gree men t evid ent as fina l

The Fore ign Min iste rs of the Schu man Plan
cou ntri es met o:n 12 Apr il to clea r up the
rem aini ng prob lem s befo re sign atur e of the
drai t trea ty. While Monnet, the real auth or
dedl y opti mis tic, " his un-
of the Plan~ ente red the conf eren ce usti ll guar
3.3(h)(2) esse dly expe ctin g trou ble.
cert aint y was obv ious and his adv iser s wer e profsed with the tent ativ e
Ger man neg otia tor Han stei n was repo rted ly plea :i but shar p disa gree -
issue
com prom ise that had been reac hed on the Saa r
ntri es with resp ect to
men t was evid ent amo ng all the part icip atin g cou ng stre ngth in the ad-
voti
the com posi tion of the High Authority~ nati onal
the coa l-ste el poo l's
viso ry Cou ncil of Min iste rs and the loca tion of
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~RET
Van Zeel and
capit al. In talks with Monnet, Belg ian Fore ign Mini ster
on the agen da,
has intim ated that he will raise at least two ques tions not perh aps rene -
one of whic h -- a prov ision for futur e re=e xami natio n and diffi culti es. "
ous
gotia tion of the treat y - - Monnet fears may lead to "seri
Com ment : Disa gree men t to this exten t in
basic decis ions
the final conf erenc e was to be antic ipate d, inasm uch as defe rred
deter mini ng the voice to be allot ted to each parti cipa nt were g the treat y
havin
in mid- Marc h in orde r to gain the publ icity adva ntage of
ably since rely
at leas t initi aled Van Zeel and' s criti cal attitu de is prob
coal indu stry will
base d on the Belg ians 9 misg iving s that their high -cost
suffe r dispr opor tiona tely unde r the Plan.

peac e camp aign: : -~ · '·

7. Cryp to-C omm unist s may acqu ire new pres s orga n for
3 2
The US Emb assy in Pari s has repo rted in_:3. (h)( )
form ation point ing to the poss ibilit y that
Loui s Dolivetjl edito r of the Unite d Natio ns
Worl d and a cryp to-C omm unist asso ciate d
g step s to tran s-
with "neu trali st" and fello w-tr avel er Pier re Cot, is takin 75, 000) into
t
form the indep ende nt lefti st daily Com bat (circ ulati on abou
and "neu tral-
an orga n cham pioni ng the Com mun ist line of disar mam ent
Com bat's staff ,
ism. " The Emb assy asse rts that Dolivetjl who is now on
ains that Com -
is emin ently quali fied for such a task. The Emb assy expl "care fully
bat rece ntly carri ed three artic les by Doli vet whic h were ucive to a
calcu lated..• to crea te a gene ral polit ical atmo sphe re cond after , Com -
there
slack enin g of the Wes tern defen se effor t"; imm ediat ely l, whose
bat featu red an artic le by Briti sh pacif ist Lord Robe rt Ceci
the thirt ies as
name and pres tige Doli vet succ essfu lly explo ited durin
a cove r for ro-S ovie t activ ities . Furth ermoowne re~ ~~.,,- :==c- .--:=- -n=:- =-::,~ 3.3(h)(2)
the weal thy r of Com bat is "tire
~o~f-m~a-n~ag~1,--,n-g~a_p_a_p_e_r_t..----a~~o-s_e_s_Jsix milli on franc s per mont h and poss ibly
rial polic y in
would be willi ng to allow Doli vet to guide the pape r s edito
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retur n for finan clal assis tanc e.

Com ment : The influ entia l indep ende nt Le
follow a fairl y
Mon.de has been the only non- Com mun ist Pari s pape r to

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including
consi stent polic y of "neu tralis m, " although most Paris dailie s, tion.
the pro-g overn ment Figar o, have occas ional ly leane d in that direc
Com-
Inasm uch as Combat has not heret ofore been clear ly ident ified asa mean s
muni st-co ntrol led, the Comm unist s may well inten d to use it as
of exploiting leftis t "neu tralis t" senti ment .

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