US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU813

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000813 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/OP/NEA 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, PGOV, CASC, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: QUIET REIGNS ON STRIKE'S THIRD DAY 
 
REFERENCE: KATHMANDU 804 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  The third day of a Maoist-declared 
general strike passed relatively quietly, with ever more 
businesses and vehicles daring to risk retaliation from 
the insurgents.  Three bomb blasts were reported in the 
capital - including a petrol bomb attack on a motorcyclist 
who broke the strike - but no injuries resulted. 
Throughout Nepal long distance traffic remained suspended. 
Citizens rallied to protest the Maoists action.  Although 
more residents are defying the strike each day, the 
insurgents have shown a willingness to escalate their 
violence and intimidation.  End Summary. 
 
Quiet, but Scattered Incidents Mar Third Day 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) The third day of the five-day April 23-27 general 
strike called by Maoist insurgents passed relatively 
quietly.  More traffic - including some public buses - 
plied Kathmandu's streets, and fewer businesses stayed 
shuttered.  As of COB three serious incidents were 
reported in the capital.  Late in the morning a bomb was 
set off in a bus parked at the old bus station near Ratna 
Park in the center of the city.  No one was on the bus at 
the time, and no injuries were reported.  Around two hours 
later a group of three men threw a petrol bomb at a 
motorcycle passing by a major intersection.  The 
motorcyclist escaped injury, but the men escaped. 
Finally, at around 4 p.m. a bomb reportedly exploded in 
the New Baneshwor neighborhood, although when contacted 
police sources were unable to confirm the incident. 
 
3. (U) Reports from outlying provinces indicate that life 
has mostly returned to normal with the notable exception 
of inter-city traffic.  Long distance bus and trucking 
services remained at a standstill throughout the country. 
 
Don't Try This At Home 
---------------------- 
 
4. (U) In addition to the April 24 incidents reported 
Reftel, two Maoists died that day when explosive devices 
they were attempting to set went off prematurely.  One 
Maoist hurt himself trying to throw a Molotov at an 
electricity transmitter in Kathmandu.  He was taken to a 
hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.  The 
second perished while hanging a bomb from an electric pole 
in Lalitpur district, adjacent to the capital.  Four other 
Maoists were caught in flagrante delicto when trying to 
plant a bomb at the "SOS Children's Home," or orphanage, 
in the Koteshwor area of Kathmandu.  [Note:  At an April 
24 dinner hosted by Chief of Army Staff Rana, senior RNA 
officers told Emboffs that security forces had made 
significant progress in arresting individuals responsible 
for acts of intimidation and terror in the capital.  End 
Note.] 
 
Urbanites Take to Streets in Protest 
------------------------------------ 
 
5. (U) Groups of citizens from both Kathmandu and 
neighboring Patan held rallies April 25 to protest the 
Maoists' actions and to call for peace.  About one hundred 
politicians and intellectuals started the day by holding a 
peace rally that trailed through the narrow lanes of 
historic Patan.  Then businessmen who occupy a shopping 
center in the midst of Kathmandu's business district 
convened a meeting for unity against the Maoist strike. 
After the meeting adjourned the businessmen held a 
motorcycle and vehicle rally in the city center. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6. (SBU) As Post predicted, observation of the strike fell 
sharply on the third day.  The self-immolation of a few 
hapless Maoists notwithstanding, the continued bomb blasts 
and the arrests of Maoists caught in the act of bomb- 
throwing or other intimidation suggest that the insurgents 
will continue to use violent tactics to intimidate the 
public into going along with their general strike.  As 
today's rallies illustrate, the chorus of voices 
complaining about the effects of the bandh - and 
especially the economic costs - continues to grow.  The 
Nepalese seem eager to get back to business. 
 
MALINOWSKI