US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU67

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000067 
 
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, PHUM, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, JANUARY 3-9, 
2004 
 
REFERENCE:  KATHMANDU 0064 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  Sixteen security personnel reportedly were killed and 
forty others injured by Maoist ambushes while nine 
insurgents died in clashes.   Maoists reportedly torched a 
vehicle carrying vials of polio vaccine which was to be 
distributed to children in the villages.  The United Nations 
World Food Program (WFP) announced that it was suspending 
some of its food-for-work programs in the far-west due to 
Maoist looting.  Maoist cadres proudly posed for pictures 
holding an American M-16 rifle seized from the Royal Nepal 
Army (RNA) after an ambush.  Sixteen Maoist cadres 
surrendered to government officials.  Maoists reportedly 
killed four civilians, two of their own cadres, and abducted 
fourteen others, including three soldiers.  Indian 
Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran said that India, the UK and 
the US "are on the same wavelength" regarding the conflict 
in Nepal.  The number of Nepalis migrating into India 
continues to rise.  Maoist supremo Prachanda dismissed the 
recent series of meetings between political parties and the 
Royal Palace as a mere "ploy" to weaken the movement against 
the so-called royal regression.  Thousands of Nepalis are 
benefiting from mobile camps providing government services. 
According to security officials, residents overwhelmingly 
support the Unified Command Force (UCF) posts.  Maoist- 
called strikes yielded mixed results in the east.  The 
insurgents are campaigning for autonomous rule on behalf of 
the Magar community, an ethnic group they claim remains 
oppressed.  End Summary. 
 
AMBUSHES KILL AND INJURE SCORES OF SECURITY PERSONNEL 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
2.  Maoist ambushes killed sixteen security personnel and 
injured forty others.  A Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldier died 
on January 8 from Maoist-planted landmine in the western 
district of Salyan.  On January 7, rebels reportedly killed 
a policeman in broad daylight in the far-eastern district of 
Morang.  The insurgents had abducted the junior officer on 
January 6.  On that same day, a clash in Sindhuli District, 
also in the east, left one officer and one soldier dead.  A 
security convoy, returning from a government sponsored 
mobile camp in the eastern district of Khotang, was attacked 
by Maoists on January 6, killing two RNA soldiers and 
injuring fourteen others.  Rebels reportedly also abducted 
from the convoy three soldiers and three civilians, who 
remain missing.  In Chitwan District, southwest of 
Kathmandu, a Maoist-detonated landmine killed three RNA 
soldiers and injured eighteen on January 4.  Eight civilians 
suffered injuries in the ensuing battle between the RNA and 
Maoists.  Also on that day, in the eastern district of Bara, 
another convoy returning from a mobile service camp came 
under attack from Maoists.  Five soldiers were injured in 
that ambush.  On January 3, in the central-western district 
of Gulmi, rebels reportedly killed an off-duty, unarmed RNA 
soldier.  On January 2, three policemen were killed in Bara 
and Sindhupalchowk districts.  On January 1, in the eastern 
district of Kavre, insurgents killed a police head 
constable. 
 
3.  Nine Maoist rebels were killed in separate clashes with 
security forces.  Two insurgents were killed on January 8 in 
Nuwakot, northwest of Kathmandu, and on January 7, three 
more in the northeastern district of Taplejung and one in 
Sindhuli District.  On January 4, more clashes in Nuwakot 
District claimed the lives of two insurgents.  A female 
insurgent was killed on January 2 in Bara District. 
MAOISTS DESTROY POLIO VACCINES 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  On January 5, in Chitwan, Maoists reportedly torched a 
vehicle carrying vials of polio vaccine, which was to be 
distributed to children in the villages.  Two armed rebels 
seized the vehicle and poured kerosene on it.  Twenty-five 
vials of the vaccine and thousands of syringes were 
destroyed. 
 
5.  On January 2, the United Nations World Food Program 
(WFP) announced that it was suspending its food-for-work 
program in the far-western district of Bajura due to the 
Maoist looting of supplies.  Representatives of the program 
denounced the looting as "immoral and unacceptable," and 
voiced concern over the increasing number of similar 
incidents.  The organization appealed for the return of the 
food so that it could be distributed to the community.  The 
WFP had planned to distribute 400 tons of food through the 
program. 
 
6.  On January 7, a group of Maoists in the western district 
of Bara reportedly also torched five trucks full of 
construction supplies.   In Rupandehi District, also in the 
west, rebels bombed the state run Radio Nepal station and 
set fire to the Agriculture Development Training Office. 
 
MAOISTS SEIZE M-16S 
-------------------- 
 
7.  Maoist cadres proudly posed for pictures holding an 
American M-16 rifle which they had seized from the RNA after 
an ambush.  The January 2 edition of a weekly English 
newspaper printed the pictures, and quoted army officials 
admitting that some of the American rifles had been taken 
during Maoist ambushes.  However, army sources claimed the 
rebels do not have the proper ammunition for the weapons. 
The GON's amnesty program offers 700 USD to Maoists who 
surrender and hand over M-16s. 
 
8.  Sixteen Maoist cadres surrendered to government 
officials.  On January 7, the Defense Ministry reported that 
nine cadres, including six females, surrendered to 
authorities in Nuwakot District, just north of Kathmandu. 
On January 4, the Defense Ministry said five insurgents from 
Sindhuli and one from Dailekh surrendered out of 
"disillusionment with Maoist terrorism," and their 
"irresponsible and inhumane activities."  Another one 
surrendered on January 2 in the far-western district of 
Kailali. 
 
MAOIST MURDERS AND ABDUCTION 
---------------------------- 
 
9.  Maoists reportedly hacked to death a retired Indian 
soldier on January 8 for refusing to pay the insurgents' 
earlier extortion demands.  The rebels dragged him from his 
home in Baglung District and killed him in front of family 
members.  On that same day, the rebels reportedly killed two 
of their own cadres in Rupandehi District, accusing them of 
betraying the party.  On January 4, an armed group of 
Maoists reportedly shot and killed two employees of the 
District Forest office in Rautahat District, which borders 
India on the south. On that same day in central Myagdi 
District, rebels reportedly killed a man for allegedly 
posing as a Maoist and robbing people. 
 
10.  Maoists reportedly abducted eight people.  Two members 
of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN- 
UML) were abducted by rebels on January 3 in Syangja 
District.  Three laborers were abducted in Banke District on 
January 4, and three family members from Ramechap District 
were abducted by insurgents on January 2. 
 
US, UK AND INDIA "ON SAME WAVELENGTH" 
------------------------------------- 
 
11.  In a January interview with a vernacular newspaper, 
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran said that India, the 
UK and the US "are on the same wavelength" regarding the 
conflict in Nepal.  Saran also declared that India was not 
worried about a big American presence in Nepal because the 
needs of Nepal can be supplied by sources other than India. 
Ambassador Saran again denied allegations that India was a 
safe haven for Maoists, declaring that Maoists who cross the 
border into India are not coming with Indian approval. 
Declaring that Nepal's Maoist problem "is also that of 
India," Saran said India must be prepared for a mass exodus 
of Nepalis into India if the insurgency continues unabated. 
 
12.  A January 7 press report said that on average 300 
Nepalis leave for India everyday due to mounting violence 
and lack of employment.  According to one police post along 
the India-Nepal border in western Banke District, almost 
10,000 people have fled to Nepal in the last three months, 
most of whom are from the hilly and western regions. 
 
PRACHANDA BLASTS "PLOY" 
----------------------- 
 
13.  In a statement released on January 7, Maoist Supremo 
Prachanda dismissed the recent series of meetings between 
political parties and the Royal Palace as a mere "ploy" to 
weaken the movements against the so-called royal regression. 
He dismissed the King's efforts, and declared that they 
would not solve the country's problems.  Prachanda also 
voiced his support for the ongoing student protests in 
Kathmandu (reftel). 
 
MOBILE CAMPS HELP TO FILL VOID 
------------------------------ 
 
14.  In an attempt to provide administrative and health 
services to regions hit hardest by the Maoist insurgency, 
the Government of Nepal's (GON) mobile camps have proven 
highly successful.  Camps held in Parbat, Bardiya, and Bara 
have provided administrative, medical, agricultural, and 
educational assistance to over fifty thousand people, many 
of whom defied Maoist orders not to attend the camps. 
 
LOCALS WELCOME UNIFIED COMMAND FORCE 
------------------------------------ 
 
15.  According to security officials, residents in Jhapa 
District, which borders India in the east, overwhelmingly 
support the Unified Command Force (UCF) posts in that 
district.  One local was quoted as saying that the UCF has 
"boosted our morale," and decreased depredations by Maoists 
and Indian dacoits. 
 
MAOIST-CALLED STRIKES YIELD MIXED RESULTS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
16.  A strike called by the Maoist-aligned student wing, All 
Nepal National Independent Students' Union-Revolutionary 
(ANNISU-R), on January 3 to protest alleged American 
intervention and killings of ANNISU-R cadres by security 
forces yielded mixed results and some violence.  Over six 
districts in the eastern region of Nepal were affected by 
the strike.  In Sankhuwasabha, Maoists torched the Nepal Red 
Cross Building, but most other activities carried on 
normally.  In Taplejung and Jhapa, stores remained open 
despite the detonation of a bomb in Jhapa.  Sunsari, Morang 
and Dhankuta reportedly were highly affected by the strike, 
with streets deserted and shops closed.  The strike also 
caused the postponement of a polio vaccine clinic that was 
to have been held in Dhankuta. A bomb blast in Dhankuta 
frightened many into observing the Maoist-imposed shut-down. 
 
17.  A two-day strike which began on January 1 paralyzed 
life in the districts of Nuwakot, Dhading and Rasuwa, which 
surround Kathmandu.  Transportation stopped, schools closed, 
and businesses remained shut.  The strike was called by the 
Maoists to protest the killing of one of their cadres. 
 
MAOISTS TOUT ETHNIC AUTONOMY 
---------------------------- 
 
18.  Maoist cadres in Pyuthan District, immediately north of 
the Maoist stronghold of Dang in the west, continue their 
party's push for ethnic autonomy.  The insurgents are 
campaigning on behalf of the Magar community, an ethnic 
group they claim remains oppressed.  The insurgents 
reportedly are also planning to hold elections for a new 
"Peoples' Government" in the near future. 
 
MALINOWSKI