Untitled report on Soviet activities in Syria

122/12

Nov 6^th, 1955

The Soviet Government, rather the Central Bureau of the Soviet Communist Party in Moscow, informed Mr. Khalid Bekdash, Head of the Communist Party in Damascus, that assistance from the Soviet Union and countries of the Communist Bloc will not be limited to the arms deal signed recently between Egypt and Czechoslovakia, but will also include battle-trained armed volunteers.  These personnel will be armed men from Turkestan and Caucasia, who are devout Muslims.  These have volunteered to fight with the Arab forces as needed, to defend and rescue Arab countries and the Holy Sites in Mecca and Jerusalem from their enemies.  These volunteers will be armed with the arms and ammunition they need.  As for their transfer routes to these countries, they are guaranteed by the Soviet Union to be safe, provided that Syria and Egypt approve these routes.

Mr. Khalid Bekdash had shown this plan of the volunteers who are on standby to come to the rescue of the Arab countries, as laid out by the Soviet High Command with the approval of the Soviet Communist Party, to the first Syrian President, who has referred him to the Chief of Staff of the armed forces without giving any opinion on the matter.