US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1835

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001835 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/SA 
ISLAMABAD FOR AMBASSADOR POWELL 
LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, ECON, ASEC, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  PUBLIC OBSERVED FIRST DAY OF GENERAL 
STRIKE, THREE MAOIST BOMBS PLANTED TO ENFORCE IT 
 
 
1.  (SBU) On September 18, the first day of a Maoist-imposed 
three day general strike, Embassy police contacts reported 
that 95 percent of businesses in Kathmandu Valley were 
closed.  Traffic was limited to police and army vehicles, 
diplomatic vehicles, and ambulances, with most people opting 
to walk or ride bicycles.  Police and media sources also 
report that outside Kathmandu Valley 90 percent of shops, 
factories, and educational institutions are closed.  A 
handful of markets located in district headquarters around 
the country maintained limited hours today. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Police sources also report that the Maoists 
planted bombs in three locations around the country today.  A 
bomb exploded in a taxation office in Biratnagar, on the 
Indian border south of Kathmandu, at 5:25 this morning.  No 
one was injured in the attack.  A second bomb was detonated 
in Kavre district, immediately east of Kathmandu, with no 
reports of injures.  A third bomb planted near Kathmandu 
University in Kavre was successfully defused by army 
personnel.  In the district of Kaski, just south of the 
Annapurna massif, Maoist cadres burnt an ambulance just 
before noon.  The police could provide no additional details 
on the incident. 
MALINOWSKI