US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU298

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000298 
 
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, FEBRUARY 7-13, 
2004 
 
REFERENCE:  (A) KATHMANDU 0280 
            (B) KATHMANDU 0288 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.   A military offensive launched by the Royal Nepal Army 
(RNA) left nineteen people dead.  Fifty-one Maoists 
reportedly were killed in other clashes with security 
forces.  Reported Maoist attacks on security personnel 
injured seven and killed one.  Two senior Maoist leaders 
were arrested in Lucknow, India and turned over to Nepalese 
authorities (Ref A).  The Maoist website continues to 
publicize its plans for a mass meeting in New Delhi on 
February 15.  The World Peoples' Resistance Movement (WPRM), 
a Maoist-affiliated group based in London, the group 
announced a conference to be held in London on February 18 
Maoists reportedly bombed a passenger bus killing six 
civilians and injuring thirteen.  Indiscriminate bombings, 
including several in Kathmandu, continue.  A Maoist-imposed 
strike on February 12 shut down the Kathmandu Valley (Ref B) 
but remained peaceful.  The number of surrendered Maoists is 
nearing three hundred, and the Government of Nepal (GON) 
announced it would extend the deadline for its amnesty 
program.  The local press reported that Maoists had rounded 
up over 700 people and forced them to participate in Maoist 
programs.  Maoists reportedly have issued "death warrants" 
to several members of various political parties, charging 
them with being government spies.  Russia's Ambassador sent 
a warning to Maoists that "we are watching," and pledged his 
government's assistance to Nepal.  End Summary. 
 
RNA "OPERATION BLITZKRIEG" KILLS 19 
----------------------------------- 
 
2. On February 6, the Royal Nepal Army launched "Operation 
Blitzkrieg" deep in the jungle of Parsa District, southeast 
of Kathmandu, leaving nineteen people dead.  Seventeen 
reportedly were Maoists, and two were civilians "caught in 
the crossfire."  On February 9, RNA spokesman Colonel Deepak 
Gurung said troops launched a military offensive after 
learning of a planned attack on army bases in that region by 
Maoists.  Gurung praised the operation's success, while the 
Maoists' official website accused security forces of killing 
their cadres in "a fake encounter."  The rebels alleged that 
the army murdered their cadres in "a cold-blooded incident" 
after they had been arrested.  Gurung denied the 
allegations, saying the army has no policy of killing 
captured Maoists because they can "extract important 
information from the arrested Maoists, so why would we kill 
them?" 
 
3.  Local human rights organizations were quick to criticize 
the RNA for the deaths of the two civilians, an eighty-year- 
old woman and an unidentified male, and questioned the RNA's 
claim that there was an encounter.   RNA spokesman Colonel 
Deepak Gurung acknowledged that the woman might have been 
killed in crossfire, but added "we don't know whose bullet 
killed her."  Gurung also said security forces repeatedly 
asked the rebels to surrender, and opened fire only after an 
area commander began firing at them. 
 
4.  Fifty-one Maoists reportedly were killed in other 
clashes with security forces.  On February 12, six Maoists 
were killed in the neighboring districts of Parsa and Bara, 
and one in Salyan District.  Five rebels were killed in Bara 
District in two separate clashes on February 9 and 11, and 
two each in Rautahat District on February 9.  Two more were 
killed in Dhanusha District on February 11.  The insurgents 
suffered heavy casualties on February 8 with seventeen 
killed; twelve in the eastern districts of Ramechhap, 
Saptari, Udayapur, Panchthar, and Parsa; two in the western 
district of Jumla; and three in the central districts of 
Kaski and Parbat. 
 
5.  Reported Maoist attacks on security personnel injured 
seven and killed one.  On February 9, an ambush by Maoists 
left a head constable of police killed and an RNA soldier 
seriously injured in Lalitpur District, neighboring 
Kathmandu.  On February 8, in Nuwakot District, just north 
of Kathmandu, six Armed Police Force (APF) personnel were 
injured by a Maoist-planted landmine. 
 
INDIA ARRESTS TWO SENIOR MAOISTS 
-------------------------------- 
 
6.  On February 8, nearly a week after the governments of 
India and Nepal publicly announced their commitment to fight 
cross-border terrorism, Matrika Prasad Yadav and Suresh Ale 
Magar, two senior Maoist leaders, were arrested in Lucknow, 
India.  The two men were arrested following a tip by India's 
intelligence agency, and later turned over to security 
forces in Nepal.  Maoist supremo Prachanda, in a scathing 
press statement released on February 10, accused the Indian 
government of taking the men in "a kidnapping style," and 
said his party was "stunned and furious."  He has demanded 
their release. 
 
7.  The Maoist website continues to publicize its plans for 
a mass meeting in New Delhi on February 15.  The meeting is 
only one of many activities planned to commemorate the start 
of the so-called "Peoples' War" eight years ago, and the 
website urges people to unite against the "attempt of 
American imperialism to infiltrate South Asia through 
Nepal."  The statement also accuses America of opting for 
"dictatorship and not democracy." 
 
8.  On February 7, a vernacular newspaper reported that 
according to a recently surrendered insurgent, many of the 
rebels injured during clashes with security forces receive 
medical treatment in Jalandhar, Punjab, India--the same 
Indian state where one of Maoist supremo Prachanda's 
daughter reportedly lives. 
 
MAOIST CONFERENCE PLANNED IN BRITAIN 
------------------------------------ 
 
9.  In an email distributed by the World Peoples' Resistance 
Movement (WPRM), a Maoist-affiliated group based in London, 
the group announced a conference to be held in London on 
February 18 in support of overthrowing the monarchy.  The 
email criticizes the "imperialists led by the US" for 
"stepping up global intervention, aggression and 
occupation," and urges support for Maoists to seize power. 
The planned conference includes videos of mass rallies in 
Kathmandu, speeches, and distribution of Maoist literature. 
 
BOMB BLAST KILLS CIVILIANS; 
KATHMANDU ALSO HIT 
-------------------------- 
 
10.  On February 12, Maoists reportedly bombed a passenger 
bus, killing six civilians and injuring thirteen.  Four 
security personnel also were injured.  According to the 
local press, the rebels may have targeted the bus because 
security personnel were traveling on it, or in violation of 
the strike (bandh) called on that day.  A similar attack on 
a minibus on February 11 in Kavre District, bordering 
Kathmandu on the east, injured three civilians and two RNA 
soldiers.  Maoists reportedly blocked the road and threw a 
socket bomb at the minibus as it approached. 
 
11.  On February 11, Maoists set fire to the press building 
of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.  Maoists also set fire 
to the same building last year.  Two bombs exploded in the 
Kathmandu Valley within twenty-four hours.  On February 9 
Maoists detonated a bomb in a ward office in Kathmandu 
District, and on February 10 a bomb was detonated in the 
early morning in a busy shopping area in the Kathmandu 
Valley.  No casualties were reported, but a statue of the 
late King Mahendra was damaged.  Security reportedly has 
been increased in Kathmandu Valley in preparation for the 
possibility of increased violence during the anniversary of 
the start of the so-called "Peoples' War." 
 
12.  On February 11, Maoists in the western district of 
Jhapa pulled off a brazen robbery while Prime Minister Surya 
Bahadur Thapa spoke in a nearby government building.  The 
rebels stole USD 4,000 from the Nepal Telecommunication 
Office despite the heavy presence of security for the Prime 
Minister's speaking engagement. 
 
MAOIST STRIKE SHUTS DOWN CAPITAL 
-------------------------------- 
 
13.  A Maoist-called nationwide strike (bandh) on February 
12 brought Kathmandu Valley to a standstill (Ref B) but 
remained peaceful.  Businesses and schools were closed, and 
transportation services also halted.  Another strike has 
been called for February 17 and also for February 25-29. 
 
MAOIST SURRENDERS NEARING THREE HUNDRED 
--------------------------------------- 
 
14.  On February 6, Home Ministry Spokesman Gopendra Bahadur 
Pandey said that over 250 Maoists had surrendered since the 
announcement of the Government of Nepal's (GON) amnesty 
program.  He praised its success and said the government's 
actions are receiving "wide public support."  Several 
recently surrendered Maoists addressed reporters on February 
6, declaring "political disagreement" with their former 
comrades, and urging others to abandon the "irresponsible 
and inhumane" activities of the Maoists.  The amnesty 
program, originally due to end on February 14, has now been 
extended to April 12. 
 
HUNDREDS ROUNDED UP FOR MAOIST PROGRAMS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
15.  On February 11, the local press reported that Maoists 
had rounded up over 700 people from the far-western district 
of Accham, and forced them to participate in events 
commemorating the start of the "Peoples' War."  Women, 
children and elderly were among those forcibly marched to 
the site of the programs. 
 
PARTY CADRES ISSUED MAOIST DEATH WARRANTS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
16.  The local press reported that Maoists have issued 
"death warrants" to several members of various political 
parties. On February 12, three teachers and four activists 
of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN- 
UML), the Rastriya Prajantra Party (RPP), and the Nepali 
Congress (Democratic) had death warrants issued against them 
after the insurgents accused them of being government spies. 
On February 7, similar warrants were issued by Maoists 
against three district leaders of the CPN-UML in Shyangja 
District.  (Note: On February 11, Maoist committee members 
of Dhanusha District issued a press statement claiming 
responsibility for the February 2 murder of Hem Narayan 
Yadav, a former member of parliament and the CPN-UML.  The 
insurgents said Yadav was killed for spying. End note). 
 
RUSSIA OFFERS ASSISTANCE 
------------------------ 
 
17.  On February 9, Russian Ambassador Valery V. Nazarov 
said his government was aware of the terrorist threat in 
Nepal and "we are watching."  Speaking at a press briefing, 
the envoy said Russia "resolutely denounces" extremist 
violence and noted that the Maoists not only conduct 
military attacks on security forces, but also on civilians. 
Despite offering support to the GON, Nazarov said the 
current crisis was an "internal affair," and would not 
elaborate on what kind of support his government would 
provide. 
 
MALINOWSKI