US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU771

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, ASEC, CASC, PHUM, PINR, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: TWO DEAD IN RASH OF CAPITAL BOMBINGS; MAOISTS 
CALL FOR "INDEFINITE BANDH" 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  A string of seven Maoist attacks across 
the Kathmandu valley April 17-18 killed two and wounded 
eight.  Maoists attacked three street-side police posts, 
in one case killing one officer and one civilian by- 
stander.  Attacks on government offices and the home of an 
advisor to the Prime Minister were also reported.  In an 
April 15 statement, Maoist leader Prachanda threatened an 
"indefinite" general strike following the one called for 
April 23-27.  Experience shows that once made, Prachanda's 
statements are difficult to retract.  The wave of violence 
is an attempt to intimidate Kathmandu's residents into 
observing the Maoists' strike.  End Summary. 
 
Bomb in Capital Kills Two 
------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) A bomb thrown at a police stand on a busy 
thoroughfare in Kathmandu April 17 killed two, according 
to police sources.  At around 8:00 p.m. local time, Maoist 
insurgents threw an improvised explosive device made from 
a pressure cooker at the small police stand.  They then 
fired on officers with pistols.  One policeman died at the 
scene; another remains in serious condition.  Shrapnel 
from the blast wounded three passers-by, one fatally. 
 
Five More Injured in Similar Morning Incident 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. local time, Maoists 
attacked a half-dozen locations around the Kathmandu 
valley.  In an incident similar to the April 17 bombing, a 
petrol bomb was thrown at a small police stand on a busy 
street in Gattekulo, near the Kathmandu's Maitidevi 
neighborhood.  Two police and three passers-by were 
injured, police related to Post.  [Note:  A Reuters wire 
story erroneously reported six wounded, including four 
members of the public.  End Note.] 
 
But No Other Injuries or Fatalities 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) No other injuries or fatalities were reported in 
the hour's five other incidents.  The incidents occurred 
in disparate locations in and around Kathmandu, and all 
involved Molotov-cocktail-style attacks.  Targets included 
another police stand; a Health Department vehicle; an 
Education Office; a Village District Committee building; 
and the home of the economics advisor to Prime Minister 
Sher Bahadur Deuba.  The advisor, Dr. Prakash Saran Mahat, 
was in New Delhi at the time.  Fire caused significant 
damage to downstairs rooms, but no one was harmed, Mahat 
told us. 
 
Chinese Worker Ambushed 
----------------------- 
 
5. (U) A Chinese contractor on a hydroelectric project was 
injured when Maoists ambushed his vehicle April 17 in 
Sindhupalchowk district north of the capital. 
 
Maoist Leader Threatens "Indefinite Bandh" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
6. (SBU) In an April 15 press release, Maoist leader 
Prachanda stated that "there is a need of not only the 
five-day bandh (general strike) but also of an indefinite 
Nepal bandh until there is no way out."  The statement 
continues, "the dream of the feudal tyrants, who like to 
keep the great Nepali people as the slaves of the Middle 
Ages by frightening them with the names of America, the UK 
and India, will never be fulfilled."  [Note:  Post's 
translation of the April 15 statement has been forwarded 
to SA/INS.] 
 
Flight Diverted Due to Maoist Attack 
------------------------------------ 
 
7. (U) A Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) flight to 
Humla district in western Nepal was diverted to Nepalgunj 
after Maoists fired and threw bombs at the Simikot 
airport.  A newspaper correspondent for Kantipur, Nepal's 
leading vernacular daily, reported the story from Simikot, 
Humla's district capital.  No one was injured, and the 
plane was undamaged, according to a press report.  Reached 
after hours, civil aviation authorities and the RNAC 
office at Kathmandu's international airport could not 
confirm the story. 
 
Post Response 
------------- 
 
8. (SBU) Conoff is preparing a public announcement for CA 
clearance.  Post will hold a warden meeting for American 
citizens April 19.  An EAC meeting will be held April 19, 
and another on April 22. 
 
Comment: Saying and Making It So 
-------------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) The Maoists have raised the stakes considerably 
by threatening an "indefinite" bandh.  As the aborted 
April 2-6 bandh showed, Prachanda has difficulty 
retracting his statements once they are in circulation. 
As in the past, in response to Prachanda's calls for a 
general strike April 23-27, Maoist cadres have ratcheted 
up the violence in order to intimidate urban residents 
into staying home.  Also as in the past, government 
facilities and officials were the targets of this most 
recent wave of attacks - although their increasingly 
indiscriminate execution have again killed and wounded 
innocent by-standers. 
 
MALINOWSKI