US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1721

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001721 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY 
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE 
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST 
FINANCING 
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA LILIENFELD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, AUGUST 30- 
SEPTEMBER 5 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. Sixty-three Maoists and fifteen security personnel died 
in clashes this week.  The Government of Nepal (GON) imposed 
curfews on twenty-three of Nepal's districts in an attempt 
to maintain law and order.  Pyar Jung Thapa, Chief of Army 
Staff, pledged to maintain peace in Nepal and declared that 
the brutal killings committed by the Maoists only 
strengthened the army's resolve to defeat them.  Maoist 
Supremo Prachanda, issued a press statement on September 3 
criticizing the Ambassador for meeting with the various 
political parties and for interfering in Nepal.  Devendra 
Raj Kandel, former minister, survived an assassination 
attempt by Maoists on August 29.  Maoists then killed ten 
civilians, and abducted eight others.  Police in India 
reportedly arrested six gang members on September 2 who 
allegedly were attempting to sell weapons to Maoists from 
Nepal.  The international community and human rights 
organizations condemned the Maoists' return to violence. 
End summary. 
 
ATTACKS ON SECURITY FORCES ESCALATE 
----------------------------------- 
 
2.  Armed clashes between security forces and the insurgents 
during the week resulted in the deaths of fifteen security 
personnel, sixty-three Maoists and two civilians caught in 
the crossfire.  Sixteen security personnel sustained 
injuries.  On August 30 clashes in the eastern districts of 
Udaypur, Sindhuli and Sarlahi left seven Maoists and two 
civilians dead, and six security personnel seriously 
injured.  Also on that day, a police constable was murdered 
in Kapilvastu District.  Fighting continued on August 31 
with a Maoist ambush on a police post in Rupandehi which 
left four policemen dead.  A police sub-inspector was killed 
by rebels in Kailali, while separate clashes in the same 
area left three Maoists dead.  Sixteen Maoists and three 
security personnel were also killed in clashes on August 31 
in the western districts of Surkhet, Rolpa and Dailekh. 
 
3.  The eastern region of Nepal saw more violence on 
September 2 with another Maoist attack on a police post in 
Siraha, in which two policemen were killed and four others 
injured.  Two Maoists were also killed.  On that same day, 
eleven Maoists were killed and six security personnel 
injured in two separate clashes in Morang District.  Maoist 
ambushes in Khotang, Tanahur and Lamgunj left eleven 
insurgents and one RNA soldier dead. 
 
4.  A Maoist commander in Taplejung was killed by security 
forces on September 3 after he reportedly tried to hurl 
socket bombs at personnel on patrol.  Four more insurgents 
were killed that same day in Khotang.  Maoists attacked 
another police post in Bardiya District on September 3.  One 
policeman was killed and five are missing.  Another 
policeman was killed in Baitadi District. 
 
5.  On September 4, insurgents shot and killed a Royal Nepal 
Army (RNA) soldier at a checkpoint in Chitwan, and eleven 
rebels were killed in separate incidents in the eastern 
districts of Ramechhap, Udayapur and Taplejung, and in the 
western districts of Surkhet and Dadeldhura. 
 
NEPAL UNDER CURFEW; RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.  Twenty-three districts out of Nepal's seventy-five are 
now under a dusk till dawn curfew.  Citing security 
concerns, the GON issued the curfew to "safeguard lives and 
property."  The announcement on state radio reportedly also 
said that security personnel had been ordered to shoot 
anyone defying the curfew. 
 
7.  On September 1, the GON announced a twenty-two day ban 
on public meetings and demonstrations in several cities, 
including the Kathmandu Valley.  An unnamed cabinet member 
reportedly said the prohibition law was implemented in order 
to maintain law and order. 
 
RNA DETERMINED TO END MAOISTS' TERROR 
------------------------------------- 
 
8.  On September 2, Pyar Jung Thapa, Chief of Army Staff, 
said the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) was determined to establish 
peace in Nepal, and ready for any necessary action against 
the rebels.  Speaking to senior army officials, Thapa 
declared that the Maoists had shown their true identity by 
resorting to abductions, murder and extortion.  He said the 
morale of the RNA would not be affected by the selective 
murders of security personnel by Maoists, but that the 
brutal killings only strengthened the army's resolve to 
defeat the Maoists.  Thapa accused the rebels of using the 
ceasefire to reorganize and rearm, but asserted that the RNA 
is prepared after increasing and modernizing its own 
military strength. 
 
PRACHANDA BLASTS "IMPERIALIST MONSTERS" 
--------------------------------------- 
 
9.  Maoist Supremo Prachanda, issued a press statement on 
September 3 castigating the Ambassador and the British 
Ambassador for their August 31 meeting with Nepali Congress 
(NC) leader Girija Prasad Koirala.  Prachanda condemned both 
Ambassadors for urging the political parties to unite with 
the "reactionary feudal monarchy," labeling them 
"imperialist monsters" who were violating diplomatic norms. 
The Maoist commander blamed the current situation in Nepal 
on the monarchy and the RNA, declaring that the "Peoples' 
War" would destroy the uncivilized monarchy and the 
reactionary army, and that the USG and British government 
should not interfere in Nepal. 
 
MAOISTS TARGET CIVILIANS AND POLITICIANS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
10.  In addition to their attacks on security personnel, 
violence against civilians and politicians also has 
increased.  On August 29, Devendra Raj Kandel, former 
Minister of Sate for Home Affairs, was shot and seriously 
wounded at his residence by suspected Maoists.  Police 
sources said that the rebels used Chinese pistols.  The body 
of a CPN-UML worker, abducted by Maoists on August 31 in the 
eastern district of Ramechhap, was found on September 2.  On 
that same day, a group of Maoists reportedly severely beat a 
member of the Nepal Samata Party in Nuwakot District. The 
urban warfare campaign launched by Maoists against 
politicians and high-ranking security officials has caused 
an increase in security presence throughout Nepal.  The 
local press reports that the Maoists have a "hit-list" with 
over two hundred names on it, causing concern and fear among 
some officials.  Security reportedly is heavy around 
political party offices as well. 
 
11.  On September 3, Maoist cadres killed four civilians, 
including a female health worker in eastern Ramechhap. 
Another villager was killed in Sankhuwasabha, after 
insurgents accused him of being "anti-Maoist." 
 
12.  A group of armed Maoists reportedly abducted two Nepal 
Red Cross Workers in the central district of Myagdi on 
September 2.  They remain missing.   Six people, including 
five teenaged girls, were abducted by Maoists on September 4 
in the northeastern district of Dolakha.  Their whereabouts 
are also unknown. 
 
13.  On August 31, Maoists killed two civilians and severely 
beat another in separate incidents.  A Village Development 
Committee (VDC) secretary in Rajbiraj was severely beaten 
for refusing to donate money, and in Nuwakot, a local 
villager with previous ties to the Maoist party was murdered 
by the rebels, who accused him of spying for the security 
forces.  An employee of the Birendra Police Hospital died of 
gunshot wounds after Maoists attacked him in Kathmandu. 
 
ALLEGED MAOIST ARMS SUPPLIERS ARRESTED IN INDIA 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
14.  Police in India reportedly arrested six gang members on 
September 2 who allegedly were attempting to sell weapons to 
Maoists from Nepal.  According to press accounts, the six 
were arrested in India while waiting to hand over AK47 
rifles and 9mm guns to three Maoists from the central Nepal 
district of Gulmi.  The press quoted police sources as 
saying that India's Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) has 
supplied "huge amounts of arms" to Maoists in western Nepal. 
 
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONDEMNS REBELS' 
RETURN TO VIOLENCE 
---------------------------------------- 
 
15.  The international community and local human rights 
organizations are calling for an end to the Maoists' wave of 
violence.  On August 29, Kofi Annan, United Nations General 
Secretary, expressed "deep concern" over the upsurge in 
 
SIPDIS 
violence, and called upon the rebels to return to dialogue, 
saying there is "no other alternative."  (Note:  Maoist 
Supremo Prachanda reportedly sent an email to Annan thanking 
him for his concern, and blaming the GON for his party's 
decision to end the ceasefire.  The Maoist Commander 
reportedly also asked for the UN's help in preventing any 
future intervention of foreign military in Nepal. End note). 
A spokesman from the Indian External Affairs Ministry in New 
Delhi declared that "neither political or economic progress 
can be achieved by resuming armed conflict," and British 
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was a "truly 
disappointing development." 
 
16.  In a statement issued on September 3, Alexander Downer, 
Australia's Minister For Foreign Affairs, said the Maoists' 
unilateral decision to end the ceasefire would lead to 
further "violence and bloodshed," and prolong the suffering 
of the Nepalese people.  Downer said the Maoists' action was 
a "major step backward." 
 
17.  On September 2 the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a 
statement expressing concern over the "failure of the peace 
process," and warned its citizens to refrain, if possible, 
from any trips to Nepal. 
 
18.  Political parties, members of civil society and human 
rights organizations have condemned the insurgents' return 
to violence.  The Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), 
the Informal Sector Services Center (INSEC), the Human 
Rights Organization of Nepal, and the Communist Party of 
Nepal-United Marxist Leninists (CPN-UML) have issued strong 
statements decrying the increase in abductions, murders and 
torture by the Maoists since the ceasefire ended. 
 
MALINOWSKI