Documents / FOIA release
This is a compilation of Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) briefing notes to the Director of INR, mostly dated June 12, 1968, with some from June 6, 1968. The notes cover world events, including student riots in Paris, East German passport and visa rules for West Germans, a UN resolution on South West Africa, a change of Komsomol leadership, Sino-Nepalese relations, and the Colombian presidential resignation crisis. Unrest in Senegal and Somalia is also covered. None of the notes discuss UFOs.
“Cairo”3 pages
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GIST: Iraq: Details Given of Proposed Legislative Council DATE: 6 June 1968 TIME: 1730 hrs COMMENTS CONTAINED IN INR BRIEFING NOTES ARE INITIAL AND TENTATIVE. FBIS; Jaghira; Domestic Service 4 June 1968 CLASS./CONTROL(S) OUO On 4 June Baghdad Radio announced that the Iraqi cabinet had completed work on a bill to establish a Legislative Council and that the public was invited to comment on it until 15 June, after which it would be "legislated and put into effect as soon as possible". Provisions of the law included the following: Members will be appointed by republican decree and approved by the cabinet. Each province will be represented by one member for each population unit of 50-100,000 people (i.e., approx. 90 members). The ten principal professional associations and federations will each have one member (10 members). The Premier and cabinet ministers will make all be ex officio members (21 members). Budgetary decisions and all laws, whether originating in the council or in the cabinet, must be approved by the council before they are promulgated. Council decisions will be by majority vote. The President has power to veto council actions, but his veto can be overturned by two thirds vote of the council. A procedure is established whereby the council can "withhold confidence" in the Premier or a minister; under these circumstances, however, the President can dissolve the council and appoint a new one, thus annulling the council action. In case of "dire need ... to preserve public order and security", the President and his cabinet have emergency powers to rule by decree, with their decisions subject to later approval by the council. RNA Comment: At first glance, it would appear that the Baghdad regime has given way to the widespread pressure for reform and has agreed to share power with the people. The above bill if enacted, is the first step toward the return to "parliamentary life" as promised in the constitutional amendment of 6 May (see INR Intelligence Note of 10 May 1968 - "Iraqi Government Extends Period of Transitional Rule, Promises Parliamentary Institutions"). Everything depends, however, upon the council membership, selection of which is in the hands of the regime. If selection of council members is done so as to set up a rubber stamp body, then the legal and moral powers of the council will not be exercised. In that event, public dissatisfaction with the current regime will only increase. If on the other hand the
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 132 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.