US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU205

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000205 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, PGOV, PREL, KMDR, NP 
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: January 27 to 
February 2, 2004 
 
 
-STATE FOR NP, AC, PM 
-STATE FOR IN/R/MR 
-STATE FOR SA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
-STATE FOR SA/PPD 
 
1.  POLITICAL AFFAIRS 
 
-- Valley bandh: The Kathmandu valley is shutdown due 
to the one-day strike called by the five agitating 
parties. (Major reports, 2/2) 
 
-- Parties threaten to flare up their agitation: The 
five agitating political parties, following King 
Gyanendra's interview with Time magazine, concluded 
that it had further widened the distrust between the 
political parties and the king and threatened to flare 
up their agitation against "regression". (Major 
reports, 1/30) 
-- RPP on the verge of split: The Rastriya Prajatantra 
Party (RPP) seems to be heading for a split as the pro- 
government members in the party Monday unilaterally 
called the National Council meeting to challenge the 
party's two-month-old decision seeking prime minister's 
resignation". (Major reports, 1/27-2/2) 
 
-- Chandra Shekhar in town: Former Indian Prime 
Minister Chandra Shekhar arrived in Kathmandu for a 
three-day informal visit Tuesday afternoon.  As usual, 
the capital city was abuzz with colorful rumors about 
the Indian leader's visit, particularly in this 
juncture when the country is badly into political 
turmoil.  He met with the king, Prime Minister Surya 
Bahadur Thapa, Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad 
Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, one of the founding 
leaders of NC, and Sher Bahadur Deuba, president of NC 
(Democratic).  Sources say that he stressed on the need 
for the king and political parties to come together. 
(Media report, 1/28-30) 
 
2.  MAOIST INSURGENCY 
 
-- RNA chief visits "Maoist heartland": General Pyara 
Jung Thapa, Chief of the Army Staff, Royal Nepal Army 
(RNA), has visited parts of mid-western districts said 
to be the flashpoints of the Maoists.  General Thapa 
addressed soldiers in Thawang VDC of Rolpa district - 
which was earlier known as headquarters of the Maoists. 
The army chief also visited neighboring Salyan, 
Jajarkot, Surkhet, Rukum and other districts.  The RNA 
has been conducting search operations in these areas 
for the last two weeks.  The RNA troops are also 
conducting the search operation in Junga Thapachaur of 
Jajarkot district - the same place where the Maoists 
had organized their major meeting to announce the 
formation of Bheri Karnali autonomous region two weeks 
ago. (Media reports, 1/30-2/2) 
 
-- Maoists call bandh (shutdown): The Maoist rebels 
have announced bandh of western tarai districts on 
February 8 to coincide with the visit of King Gyanendra 
and Queen Komal to Nepalgunj to receive a civic 
felicitation. (Media reports, 2/2) 
 
-- Abduction scare forces 39 schools to close: Thirty- 
nine schools in Achham district have closed 
indefinitely after the Maoist militants started 
abducting schoolchildren to get them involved in their 
political rallies. (Centrist "The Kathmandu Post," E/D, 
1/31) 
 
-- Capital's security under unified command: The 
security system in Kathmandu Valley has been placed and 
managed under the "Unified Command" to systematize the 
law and order situation and to curb Maoist activities. 
(Govt-owned National News Agency, 1/29) 
 
-- Effigies of Prachanda and Dr. Bhattarai to be burnt: 
The Association of Maoist Victims plans to burn the 
effigies of Maoist supreme Prachanda and Dr. Baburam 
Bhattarai on February 13 in protest against the threat 
by the Maoists to dissolve the association. (Pro-India 
"Annapurna Post," V/D, 1/28) 
 
-- Maoist call valley bandh on February 12: The Maoists 
have 
 called bandh in the hilly districts of Bagmati, 
Narayani and Janakpur including Kathmandu valley on 
February 12, expressing solidarity to the ongoing anti- 
king movement. (Centrist "Nepal Samacharpatra," V/D, 
1/27) 
3.  MONARCHY 
 
-- Students to debate monarchy in schools: The seven 
student organizations have announced that they will now 
begin to hold discussions on the "relevancy of monarchy 
in Nepal" in schools and colleges across the country. 
Private and Boarding Schools organization of Nepal 
(PABSON) has urged the student organizations not to 
initiate political activities within schools. (Leading 
dailies report, 2/2) 
 
-- Crown Prince's tour costs 9.5 million rupees:  Crown 
Prince Paras's recent two-week India visit has cost the 
state coffer 9.5 million rupees, high-level government 
officials told Deshantar. (Pro-Nepali Congress 
"Deshantar," V/W, 2/1) 
 
4.  REFUGEES 
 
-- Tibetan refugees rerouted to China: Nepali officials 
handed over three Tibetan refugees, including a minor, 
to the Chinese border on January 13, sources at the 
International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said. (Pro-India 
"The Himalayan Times," E/D, 2/1) 
 
-- Refugees urge Nepal to mediate: The Bhutanese 
Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee has 
requested Nepal to facilitate dialogue between the 
government of Bhutan and the refugees. The committee is 
accusing Bhutan of insincerity, lack of reciprocity and 
political will to address the protracted refugee 
crisis. (Media reports, 1/29) 
 
-- UNHCR cuts back volume of relief materials to 
refugees: UNHCR has scaled down the volume of relief 
materials it had been providing to the Bhutanese 
refugees stating at different camps in eastern Nepal. 
Sources said the UNHCR was forced to take this decision 
due to lack of funds.  The UNHCR officials have already 
warned that they may not be able to continue their 
assistance for too long in case the issue was not 
resolved soon. (Centrist "Kantipur," V/D, 1/28) 
 
5.  BUSINESS/ECONOMIC 
 
-- India to extend railway lines: The Inter- 
Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting concluded in 
Kathmandu with India agreeing to bring its broad gauge 
railway lines up to Jogbani and Sunauli [border 
points]. (The Kathmandu Post, 2/1) 
 
-- Nepal-India petro pipeline gets nod: The government 
has cleared a proposal to build a pipeline between 
India and Nepal to transport petro-products from the 
former.  Reports said the government also agreed to a 
joint venture of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Indian 
Oil Corporation (IOC) for cooking gas plants. (The 
Himalayan Times, 1/29) 
 
-- British govt. to provide Rs. 104.6 million: British 
government is to provide Rs 104.6 million for 
implementing an open prison and community services 
project in Nepal.  The sum will be received through the 
Department for International Development (DFID) in the 
next two years. (RSS, 1/27) 
 
-- India to build 1500 km of road in the Terai: Indian 
Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Sharan has said India will 
build nearly 1500 Kilometers of road in the Terai area 
of Nepal. (Kantipur, 1/27) 
 
6.  OTHERS 
 
-- Community information center established: The U.S. 
Embassy has established its first community information 
center in Bhairahawa.  The center is established by the 
American Center in cooperation with Nepal-America 
Friendship Association and Siddharthanagar Industry and 
Commerce Association at the latter's premises. 
Director of American Center Constance Colding Jones 
inaugurated the center established with the support of 
Rs. 3.5 million from the U.S. Embassy.  The embassy 
plans to open four such centers across the country. 
(RSS, 2/2) 
 
-- PSI launches postal drive: Population Services 
International (PSI), producer and marketer of Number 
One condom, has initiated a postal sticker campaign 
against HIV/AIDS.  The main idea behind the campaign, 
launched in collaboration with the Ministry of 
Information and Communication, Ministry of Health, 
USAID and National Human We 
lfare and Environment 
Preservation Council; is to place a sticker with a 
message on HIV/AIDS on every letter entering to and 
leaving from the country for six months in a bid to 
create awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention. (Leading 
dailies, 1/30) 
 
MALINOWSKI