US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU1482

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001482 
 
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 DORMANDY 
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 24-30, 
2004 
 
REFERENCE:  KATHMANDU 1457 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1.  In a spate of brutality, Maoists beheaded three 
civilians, a group of 12 Maoists hacked a man to death, and 
in another case, Maoists shot a handicapped man in the head. 
In Dadeldhura, the Maoists forced the stoppage of a school 
lunch incentive program run by the World Food Program (WFP) 
because the organization refused to sign an agreement with 
the rebels.  Two sister groups publicly broke ties with the 
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) this week over claims of 
ethnic discrimination.  Much speculation surrounds the issue 
of peace talks between the Maoists and the Government of 
Nepal (GON), but no clear word has emerged.  Maoists are 
allegedly planning to extort USD 1 million from targets 
within the Kathmandu Valley.  Two Maoist cadres were 
sentenced to prison in India.  Maoists reportedly killed 
three security personnel and fifteen civilians in separate 
incidents.  Ten security personnel and 29 civilians suffered 
injuries related to Maoist violence.  Rebels also abducted 
eleven people.  Security forces reportedly killed 14 Maoists 
and arrested seven individuals for suspected Maoist 
involvement.  End summary. 
 
MAOIST GROUP SPLITS 
------------------- 
 
2.  According to news reports on July 27 two Terai-based 
insurgent groups publicly broke ties with the Communist 
Party of Nepal (Maoist) (Reftel).  The first group, the 
Kirat Workers Party (KWP) made the announcement from the 
city of Dharan in Sunsari District.  No specific reasons, 
however, were given for the break.  This marks the third 
time the KWP has split with the Maoists.  The second group, 
the Mahadeshi National Liberation Front (MNLF) made their 
announcement the same day from Rajbiraj in Saptari District. 
According to the Chairman, Jaya Krishna Goit, the MNLF split 
was due to Maoist discrimination against the Mahadeshi 
people.  [NOTE:  "Mahadeshis" are inhabitants of Indian 
origin traditionally living in the Terai region along 
Nepal's southern border with India.  END NOTE.] 
 
NO CLEAR WORD ON PEACE TALKS 
---------------------------- 
 
3.  On July 27, the Minister of Population and Environment, 
Bachaspati Devkota, declared that the Government of Nepal 
(GON) would not declare a unilateral ceasefire.  Devkota 
went on to comment that government officials are trying to 
prepare the ground for peace talks with the Maoists.  When 
and if the talks will occur is unknown, however, as 
conflicting news reports continue to appear.  On July 24, 
Deputy Prime Minister, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, stated that 
peace talks were likely to be held in the next one or two 
months.  The same day, Prime Minister Deuba said he refused 
to sit for "indecisive talks" with the Maoists and instead 
would order general elections.  The Minister for Land 
Reforms and Management, Jog Mehar Shrestha, added to the 
confusion by saying, "Informal talks are taking place with 
the Maoists at governmental and non-governmental levels." 
According to the latest statements by Minister Devkota, if 
talks proceed they will be conducted clandestinely. [NOTE: 
The stream of statements regarding peace talks from various 
ministers in the new cabinet come in direct conflict to 
Deuba's July 24 statement that he alone would speak on 
security-related issues.  END NOTE.] 
"FUNDRAISING" IN KATHMANDU VALLEY 
--------------------------------- 
 
4.  According to reports in vernacular news sources, Maoists 
hope to raise almost USD 1 million in the Kathmandu Valley 
by extortion.  The Maoists reportedly plan to solicit 
"donations" from hotels, employment agencies, chambers of 
commerce, insurance and finance companies, private banks and 
from individuals among the elite class.  A vernacular 
newspaper reported that Maoists had already received money 
from several of the King's relatives and from Hotel Soaltee, 
of which the King is part owner.  It was also reported that 
Surya Nepal Private Ltd., a joint Nepal-India venture of 
which the King owns shares, gave almost USD 150,000 to the 
rebels.   These reports have not been confirmed. 
 
MAOISTS HARASS INTERCASTE COUPLE 
-------------------------------- 
 
5.  Despite Maoist party proclamations of abolishing the 
caste system and treating everyone equally, on July 29, the 
local press reported that Maoists issued threats against a 
young couple living in Baglung District not to continue with 
their relationship because they are from different castes. 
The couple defied Maoists orders and had a child together. 
Maoists threats of "dire consequences" eventually caused the 
young man to flee, and his wife was put effectively under 
"house arrest" by the Maoists. 
 
MAOISTS SENTENCED IN INDIA 
-------------------------- 
 
8. On July 28, a court in New Delhi sentenced two Maoist 
rebels, Surya Bahadur and Krishna Bahadur, to five years 
rigorous imprisonment.  The judgment came two and a half 
years after the men were arrested while trying to smuggle 50 
kilograms of explosives, 189 detonators, 28 gelatin sticks 
and 46 coils of safety fuse wires to Nepal. The court also 
imposed a fine of NPR 1600 (approximately USD 21). 
 
MAOISTS CONTINUE DEADLY CAMPAIGN 
-------------------------------- 
 
9.  On July 23 Sub-Inspector Birshingh Karki, the chief of 
Sukhad area base camp in Kailali district, was shot dead by 
Maoist rebels in Dhangadhi.  Another police officer 
sustained injuries.  On July 25, Maoist rebels killed a 
police constable, one week after abducting him in 
Nawalparasi District. On July 29, In Pyuthan District a RNA 
soldier was killed in a Maoist-laid landmine blast.  On July 
24, Maoists opened fire on a security patrol in Palpa 
district, injuring one policeman. 
 
10.  The Kathmandu Post reported on July 23 that Maoists 
beheaded a woman in Morang District on charges of spying. 
The same day, Maoists killed a handicapped man by shooting 
him in the head.  Over 8000 locals mourned his death; no 
reason was given for the murder. On July 25, in Rautahat 
District, Maoist rebels killed two of the three people they 
had earlier abducted; one of the two men was found beheaded. 
On July 28, about a dozen armed Maoists allegedly hacked to 
death a man in Bara District for spying against them. 
Another report from Banke District said rebels shot dead 
three civilians; charging them to be fake Maoists.  The same 
day in Siraha District, Maoists shot dead a 20-year-old man 
eating in a local shop.  On July 29, Maoists killed a 
civilian in Siraha District for alleged involvement in loot 
and rape cases.  The same day, Maoists beheaded another 
civilian in Sunsari District on charges of spying and 
assisting security forces.  Three civilians in Saptari 
district were killed that same night in retaliation for the 
death of one of their cadres.  Also on July 29, a civilian 
was killed and three security personnel injured by a Maoist- 
laid landmine in Kailali District.  In a similar incident, 
three policemen were injured when their vehicle ran over a 
landmine in Chitwan district on July 30.  On July 27, the 
local press reported that Maoist rebels abducted two members 
of the Nepal Workers and Peasant party (NWP); releasing one 
only after he had been severely beaten.  The rebels also 
prevented family members from taking another NWP activist to 
the district headquarters for treatment after he had been 
beaten. 
 
11.  Maoists abducted Padam Raj Joshi, the secretary of 
Sipti VDC, on July 23 from Khalanga, the district 
headquarters of Darchula district.  Of the 41 VDCs in the 
district, secretaries of 35 VDCs have been staying at the 
district headquarters for security reasons.  Six other 
civilians were abducted by Maoists: two in Rautahat District 
on July 23; three in Pyuthan District and one in Siraha 
District on July 25; One in Bhojpur on July 27; and a 
college student from his residence on July 25 in Nawalparasi 
District. 
 
12.  On July 27 Maoists completely destroyed a Primary 
Teachers Training Center in Bhairahawa.  Armed Maoists 
entered the building and forced the three workers of the 
center to leave, and then placed a bomb inside the building. 
On July 28 Maoists detonated a bomb in the busiest 
marketplace of Nepalgunj in Banke District.   At least 24 
people, including a one-year-old boy and a 62-year-old 
woman, were injured.  Maoists allegedly placed the bomb to 
target police personnel; all the victims of the blast were 
civilians.  On July 28, Maoists destroyed the area forest 
office in Rupandehi District by detonating a bomb.  More 
than two-dozen people were injured by a bomb blast in an 
office building in Chitwan District on July 29.  On that 
same day Maoists detonated a bomb in Nawalparasi District at 
an office of Royal Chitwan National Park; the building and 
documents within the building were damaged. 
 
13.  On July 23 in Dailekh District, Maoist rebels seized 28 
cooking gas cylinders from Chupra Bazaar; exploding two 
cylinders immediately after seizing them.  [NOTE:  Liquefied 
petroleum gas cylinders are allegedly used to make bombs. 
END NOTE.]  On July 25 in Kanchapur District, Maoists set a 
minibus ablaze.  Mechi highway in Ilam was blocked on July 
26 due to a bomb placed by Maoists.  Security forces defused 
the bomb in the evening.  Two Maoists hurled a pressure- 
cooker bomb at the Urban Development Office in Bharatpur in 
Chitwan District on July 27.  The same day Maoists also 
seized a bulldozer in Myagdi district.  A report from 
Bhojpur said two CPN-UML activists are living a "pathetic 
existence" after Maoists locked their houses and seized 
their lands.  On July 25, Armed Maoists in Saptari District 
looted cash and property worth 40,000 NRs (approximately USD 
540).  The owner of the property and his son were both 
injured trying to resist the rebels.  Maoists declared a 
three-day bandh on July 28 in Dhading, Rasuwa and Nuwakot 
districts to protest the killing of a member of the All 
Nepal Peasants' Association (Revolutionary) and a member of 
the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union 
(Revolutionary).  Public transportation, educational 
institutions, factories, private banks, financial 
institutions and air services were closed.   On July 29 in 
Tanahu District Maoists set ablaze a minibus belonging to 
the PepsiCola Company. 
 
14. A report from Dadeldhura District (the Prime Minister's 
home district) said Maoists in the district have recently 
imposed sanctions on the Nutritious Food Program run by the 
World Food Program (WFP).  The Maoists have banned the 
distribution of the mid-day meal program in primary schools 
in at least four remote VDCs following the refusal of the 
WFP to obtain written permission from the rebels before 
implementing the program.  [NOTE:  Since the Maoists have 
begun imposing sanctions on various programs, donors have 
put an end to over a dozen programs while others, though 
officially functioning, have stopped going out to the field. 
END NOTE.] 
 
SECURITY FORCES RETALIATE 
------------------------- 
 
17.  On July 23, Security forces shot dead three alleged 
Maoist rebels in Nuwakot District.  The same day, security 
forces in Bajhang District killed two Maoist rebels.  On 
July 24, security forces allegedly shot dead two Maoist 
rebels in Dhanusha District.  One policeman was injured in 
the incident.  Villagers, however, claim the security forces 
opened fire on a group of locals who were on patrol against 
armed robbers.  A Maoist cadre was gunned down by security 
forces in Palpa district on July 24.  A RNA soldier abducted 
by Maoists in Syangja District escaped on July 26 after 
beating his captor to death.  On July 27 security forces in 
Ramechhap District gunned down two Maoist rebels.  On July 
29 three other Maoists were killed in Dhanusha District. 
 
18.  A report from Rolpa District on July 24 said that 
security forces were increasing offensive efforts after 
receiving reports of Maoist activity in the area. 
Security forces have established a base camp in Chitwan 
District, an area the Maoists had previously claimed as a 
stronghold.  The local press reported that a security source 
said there would be over 200 RNA and police personnel at the 
camp. 
 
19.  In Jhapa, plainclothes policemen arrested six people 
for alleged involvement in Maoist activities on July 25. 
The same day in Nuwakot a man was arrested and put under 
house arrest on charges of involvement in Maoist activities. 
On July 29, security forces in Bara district claimed to have 
confiscated a cache of arms and ammunition including:  20 
pipe and pot bombs, 6 pressure cooker bombs, 4 single bore 
guns, 15 kilograms of gun powder and 45 sets of rebel 
uniforms. 
 
MORIARTY