US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU1348

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001348 
 
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 ALVERSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, PHUM, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, JULY 10-16, 
2004 
 
REFERENCE: (A) KATHMANDU 1300 
           (B) KATHMANDU 0120 
           (C) KATHMANDU 1339 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.    Government of Nepal (GON) officials announced there 
would be no unilateral ceasefire even as contradictory 
opinions surrounded the issue of international mediation. 
Maoists pulled off another brazen assassination of a city 
mayor in broad daylight, following a pattern of 
assassinating local and metropolitan-level officials who 
refuse to resign from their posts.  According to Royal Nepal 
Army (RNA) officials, Maoist "hit squads" have entered the 
Kathmandu Valley "disguised as taxi drivers."  The Indian 
press reported that Maoists from Nepal joined forces with 
Indian "Naxalite" militants to attack a police post in 
India.  Security forces reportedly killed twenty-two rebels. 
Maoist insurgents killed three security force personnel. 
Seven civilians, including two children, died in Maoist 
related violence.  Controversy surrounds a Royal Nepal Army 
(RNA) "sting operation" which left one innocent civilian and 
one suspected Maoist dead.  As Maoists continue their forced 
recruitment campaigns and abductions, an escapee from a 
Maoist camp in the west alleged that abuse, misery and 
disease are rampant.  End Summary. 
 
NO UNILATERAL CEASEFIRE 
----------------------- 
 
2.  At a press conference on July 13, Prime Minister Sher 
Bahadur Deuba said that a decision on a ceasefire would not 
be made "in haste" and the GON would not hold talks for 
"temporary peace."  The Prime Minister said he was in favor 
of meaningful dialogue and if peace talks "can bring 
permanent peace, they will be held."  Speaking to reporters 
on that same day, Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil 
Aviation Deep Kumar Upadhyay said the GON would not announce 
a unilateral ceasefire and ruled out peace talks until the 
Maoists "give up their current strategy." 
 
OPINIONS MIXED FOR UN MEDIATION 
------------------------------- 
 
3.  As speculation lingers over third-party mediation, 
officials within the GON appear to have different views.  On 
July 13 Prime Minister Deuba told the press that 
international mediation was not necessary, and he did not 
want "foreign mediation."  Deuba said he strongly believed 
that "Nepalis have to hold talks ourselves."  However, on 
the same day Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil 
Aviation Deep Kumar Upadhyay (a member of Deuba's own Nepali 
Congress-Democratic Party) said the GON did not think the UN 
should be "kept out" of the peace process.  On July 9, 
India's outgoing Ambassador, Shyam Saran, reiterated his 
government's support to Nepal in resolving the Maoist 
conflict, but added that "it is for Nepal to decide what to 
do." 
 
MAYOR ASSASSINATED 
------------------ 
 
4.  On July 12, Dhan Bahadur Bam, the Mayor of Dhangadhi, 
was gunned down by Maoists in broad daylight as he came out 
of his office.  Maoists reportedly had issued warnings to 
Bam and other appointed officials to resign by May 2.  Local 
human rights organizations have condemned the murder as a 
"gross violation of human rights," and accused the Maoists 
of killing political cadres simply for not subscribing to 
"Maoist ideology." Bam is the third mayor to be assassinated 
by the insurgents.  On July 2 the Mayor of Pokhara, in Kaski 
District, was killed by Maoists as he left his residence 
(Ref A).  The Mayor of Birgunj, in Bara District, was also 
murdered on January 15 (Ref B) reportedly after refusing to 
pay the Maoists' extortion demand of 7000 USD and refusing 
to submit his resignation.  Hundreds of government 
officials, including the Mayor of Kathmandu, have resigned 
over the past several months under intense pressure from the 
Maoists.  It is unclear if these individual murders were 
retaliatory, are part of a broader Maoist campaign to 
assassinate government officials, or to force the Government 
of Nepal (GON) through fear back into negotiations. 
 
MAOIST "HIT SQUADS" IN VALLEY 
----------------------------- 
 
5.  On July 15, the local press reported that over 400 
Maoist cadres had infiltrated the Kathmandu Valley as part 
of Maoist Special Task Forces (STF).  Security officials 
reportedly confirmed their presence to reporters with the 
Himalayan Times, an English language daily.  According to 
Royal Nepal Army (RNA) officials, the STF team members are 
assigned to assassinate specific individuals, and are 
possibly disguised as taxi drivers, traveling "as drivers 
and passengers."  A RNA "threat analysis" also revealed that 
Maoists could attempt to hijack an Indian Airlines airplane 
to pressure the Government of India to release Maoist cadres 
recently arrested in India. 
 
MAOISTS AND INDIAN MILITANTS JOIN FORCES 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.  A local Indian newspaper reported on July 15 that 
Maoists from Nepal joined with the Naxalite Maoist Communist 
Center (MCC), a militant Indian group, to attack a police 
post in the northern Indian state of Bihar.  According to 
the report, over 300 rebels, a large number of whom were 
women, exchanged fire with Indian police at the post for 
over three hours.  No policemen were reported killed, but 
the Maoists did overrun the post and capture some small 
arms. 
 
VIOLENCE SHOWS NO SIGN OF SUBSIDING 
----------------------------------- 
 
7.  Security forces reportedly killed twenty-two insurgents 
in separate incidents this week: two in the central district 
of Dhading on July 15; ten in the districts of Dolakha and 
Kaski on July 14; two in the mid-western district of Bardiya 
on July 13; and eight in Baglung and Bardiya on July 12. 
 
8.  On July 14, a police constable was killed by rebels in 
the western district of Rupandehi.  Another was killed by a 
Maoist-planted bomb in Pyuthan on July 13.  A Royal Nepal 
Army (RNA) soldier was killed by Maoists on July 11 while on 
leave. 
 
9.  Seven civilians were killed by Maoists, including three 
in Kathmandu.  On July 14, a teacher was assassinated in the 
capital by Maoists in a "drive-by" style shooting.  Two 
others were also killed in Kathmandu on July 13.  Another 
civilian was killed by insurgents on July 12 in the western 
district of Kapilbastu.  Children continue to be at risk by 
bombs discarded or left behind by the rebels. On July 12, 
two more children were killed when a bomb left behind by 
Maoists detonated in the far-western district of 
Argakhanchi.  On July 12, a Maoist bomb in the western 
district of Banke killed one woman and injured three others. 
 
10.  In an apparent sting operation gone bad, an innocent 
civilian was killed, although conflicting stories surround 
who was responsible for his death.  On July 13, security 
forces staged an operation in Kathmandu to catch a suspected 
Maoist attempting to extort money from Ullash Vaidya, an 
official from the Nepal Electric Authority.  With security 
personnel watching, Vaidya gave money to the suspect, at 
which time security forces reportedly began firing.  Both 
men were killed.  On July 14, Royal Nepal Army (RNA) 
officials denied responsibility and said that "an 
unidentified man" shot Vaidya from the back.  The RNA also 
claimed that the rebel was killed as he tried to "flee on a 
motorbike." 
 
MAOIST CAMPS "HARSH" 
-------------------- 
 
11.  In an interview with The Kathmandu Post published on 
July 12, a youth who escaped from a Maoist indoctrination 
camp alleged abuse and misery.  According to the escapee, 
there are over 300 people, some as young as thirteen-years- 
old, in the Maoist camp located in the far-western district 
of Dadeldhura.  Many of the occupants are sick with scabies 
and intestinal illnesses and some have died.  He added that 
the Maoists force their captives to walk for long periods of 
time "without food and water." While in captivity the people 
reportedly are also taught to "use guns and make bombs." 
 
12.  On July 12, over 250 students in the far-western 
district of Accham reportedly were forcibly recruited into 
the Maoist army.  Hundreds of other students from the area 
reportedly have fled to India to avoid conscription. 
 
BOMB BLASTS 
----------- 
 
13.  On July 15 the Nepal Telecommunication Office (NTC) in 
Lalitpur District, south of Kathmandu, was damaged by a 
Maoist bomb (Ref C).  According to some reports, a female 
Maoist approached the building and tried to place the bomb 
within the gate.  She was killed when the device apparently 
detonated prematurely.  Contradictory press reports, 
however, reported that a female civilian was killed after 
accidently detonating the bomb, which was situated on a 
bicycle.  Several windows were shattered, but no major 
damage was sustained.  The NTC building houses one of the 
two satellite links for Nepal, all of NTC's internet service 
equipment (used by GON officials and GON website) and also a 
major mobile phone tower. 
 
MORIARTY