CONFIDENTIAL
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PAKISTAN
The Reference News had several articles on the appointment of the new Pakistan Foreign Minister. There was a certain amcunt of contradiction in the choice of articles, Some of the reports quoted Indian scurces suggesting that the new appointment might well lead to a peaceful settlement of Indo/ Pakistan problems. One article said that judging by recent speeches by both the Pakistan and Indian Foreign Ministers, the chances of a peaceful settlement of the dispute were quite gccd. On the other hand Pakistan scurces were qucted suggesting that the appointment cf the new Minister would mean nc change in Pakistan's foreign policy.
One fairly lcng article in tho Reference News of 30 April quoted US newspapers to the effect that the Russians wished tc expand their influence in Scuthern Asia. The Russians were allegedly calculating that the Americans and Britain were withdrawing from this area and that now was the time to gain a fcct-held in Pakistan, Indian newspapers were qucted as saying that the Russians wished to split Pakistan and China and were ready to supply Pakistan with tank spares and ammuni- tion which were normally supplied by the Chinese. Ancther report said that the Russians were ready to offer T-34s, MIG 19s and artillery.
One article noted that the Pakistans had agreed to allow the United States to set up a satellite tracking station in Pakistan, Another brief article in the same issue reported the spread of cholera in Pakistan.
SOUTH EAST ASIA
As usual the splits in the Indian Communist Party and the Indian Communist Party (Marxist/Leninist) were covered in great detail.
The forthcoming visit of the Nepal Foreign Minister was announced in the bulletin on 4 May but was not revealed in the official press until 23 May,
The activities of the Indonesian, Thai, Burmese, Philippine and Lacs rebels were described in the usual way,
MIDDLE EAST
The attempted assassination of President Boumedienne was described in cne issue of the Reference News. The report said that since Boumedienne had come to power many opposition groups had grown up in Algeria and there had been several abortive ccups and assassination attempts against him. Algeria was described as suffering from eccncmic stagnation,
The visit by the UAR Foreign Minister to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Hungary was touched upon in cne repcrt. The article said that the Scviet Government's aim was to strengthen Soviet/Egyptian relations. The Egyptian Foreign Minister was quoted in praise of the new Czech Government.
LATIN AMERICA
Splits within the Brazilian Communist Party were covered in confusing detail, The Reference News cf 29 April had a big spread cn Latin America including reports of strikes in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.
JAPAN
The Reference News continued to document the pressure building up inside Japan for the establishment of formal
CONFIDENTIAL
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