US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU985

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000985 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: LEFTISTS LAMBASTE MAOIST VIOLENCE; PRACHANDA 
PROMISES PROBE 
 
REF: A. (A) KATHMANDU 977 
 
     B. (B) KATHMANDU 968 
     C. (C) KATHMANDU 964 
     D. (D) 01 KATHMANDU 1615 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU) In a joint public statement May 20, nine left-wing 
opposition parties criticized Maoist tactics and called for 
the insurgents to "reinstate their credibility" by initiating 
a unilateral ceasefire.  Eight of the parties--only three of 
which have Members in Parliament--asked Opposition Leader and 
CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Nepal not to support a 
six-month extension of the emergency (Ref B); Nepal remains 
undecided.  A press release issued by Maoist leader Prachanda 
the same day asserted attacks against infrastructure violate 
the party's "central policies" and promised a "probe" of any 
infractions.  While acknowledging some "weaknesses in our 
past," the Maoist leader charged that much of the violence 
attributed to his cadres was committed by the Royal Nepal 
Army (RNA).  The translated text of Prachanda's statement 
follows in Para 5 below.  Whether Prachanda's disavowal of 
the attacks on infrastructure is just another example of 
Maoist dissembling or is instead an indication of the 
much-rumored rift in leadership remains unclear.  What seems 
certain, however, is that no one--especially no one in the 
Government--is likely to take the Maoist supremo's 
representations seriously.  End summary. 
 
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LEFT-WING PARTIES CONDEMN MAOIST VIOLENCE 
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2.  (U) Nine left-wing parties, including the leading 
Opposition Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist 
(UML), met May 20 to discuss the Government of Nepal (GON) 
bid to extend the state of emergency for another six months 
(Ref B).  The parties issued a joint public statement 
strongly condemning Maoist tactics of murder, abduction, and 
destruction of infrastructure and calling on the insurgents 
to lay down their arms.  While asserting the need for a 
peaceful resolution to the current crisis, the statement 
called on the Maoists to "reinstate their credibility" and 
demonstrate their sincerity in pursuing dialogue by 
initiating a unilateral ceasefire, according to Arun Nepal, 
Secretary of the UML's International Department. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
3.  (U)  In the same meeting, eight of the parties appealed 
to Opposition Leader and UML General Secretary Madhav Nepal 
not to support an extension of the emergency in the special 
Parliamentary session scheduled to begin May 23. (Note: 
Three of the eight parties have a total of seven Members in 
Parliament, all of whom voted against ratification of the 
emergency in February.  The remaining five parties have no 
seats in Parliament.  Since a two-thirds majority of MPs 
present is needed to extend the emergency, UML support--or, 
at a minimum, lack of opposition--is crucial to the GON's 
effort.  End note.)  Nepal has not yet indicated openly how 
his party will vote. 
 
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PRACHANDA RESPONDS 
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4.  (U) In an apparent response to the left parties' 
statement, Maoist leader Prachanda later issued a press 
release dated the same day.  While asserting some "sabotage" 
is necessary to further the movement's revolutionary ends, 
the statement flatly denies that destruction of 
infrastructure and personal residences is an accepted tactic 
of the insurgents.  (Note:  Torture, murder, and kidnapping, 
however, are not mentioned as unacceptable.  End note.)  Most 
of the destruction attributed to the Maoists was in fact 
carried out by the Royal Nepal Army (RNA), the broadside 
charges, in order to discredit the movement.  Acknowledging 
the possibility of "weaknesses in the past," however, 
Prachanda promises to launch a "probe" into any such 
infractions.  An unofficial translation of the press release 
follows in Para 5 below. 
 
5.  (U)  Begin text of unofficial translation: 
 
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) 
Central Committee 
Press Statement 
 
   The fact that the feudal tyrannical elements under the 
instructions of their imperialist masters are plotting yet 
another conspiracy against Nepal and the Nepalese people has 
become clear with their dramatic attempt of extending the 
so-called emergency.   Although it is clear that the whole 
country favors a positive political way out through dialogue 
and talks, this attempt, the wish of the so-called Royal 
Army, has made a mockery of  parliamentary norms.   It has 
further bolstered our conclusion that all of our fellow 
political parties of the 1990 people,s movement should unite 
and resist feudal despotism.  Despite a string of murders, 
robberies, bombings and rumors over the last six months, 
Maoist fighters have overrun the so-called Royal Army in real 
battles.  This new attempt to extend the emergency just 
proves that. 
 
In this situation, a historic responsibility has arisen once 
again before all political powers, including the ones in 
Parliament, to learn from past mistakes and take initiatives 
against despotic interests.  It is clear that as the Royal 
Army terror became unrestrained nationwide with the 
ratification of the emergency in Parliament, we protested 
with various struggle programs, including the five-day Nepal 
bandh.  Our attention has been drawn to the questions raised 
about various sabotage actions then.  The first thing we want 
to make clear here is that that it is internationally proved 
that sabotage, as a part of resistance and insurgency against 
feudal tyranny, is necessary and justified to a certain 
extent to weaken the economic and military interests of the 
enemy.  The second thing, we cannot even think of destroying 
the institutions related to such basic needs of people,s 
lives as health, education and drinking water or setting 
peoples, houses on fire.  The party considers such 
activities against its central policies.  The party is 
committed to launch a probe into such activities and take 
strong action based on the nature of the offenses.  We would 
like to appeal to all to consider this fact seriously.   In 
the meantime, under the planned conspiracy, there have been 
countless crimes, including plain-clothes Royal Army and 
Police personnel in the name of Maoists setting peoples, 
houses on fire, cutting off drinking water pipes, looting and 
committing destructive activities in order to defame our 
party and the movement.  The burning of 102 houses in 
Thawang, Rolpa has been the latest conspiracy to slander us. 
Finally, with the commitment to correcting our weaknesses in 
the past and revealing the facts about the destruction caused 
by the enemy to defame this movement, we appeal to all 
political forces, intellectuals and the public to unite 
against the so-called emergency imposed by feudal elements. 
 
Date: May 20, 2002                              Prachanda 
                                          President 
                                          NCP (Maoist) 
                                          Central Committee 
 
End text. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  (SBU)  Members of left-wing parties met with Maoist 
leaders in India as recently as last August (Ref D).  Since 
then, however, the Maoists have unilaterally backed out of 
dialogue, broken a ceasefire, and engaged in a killing spree 
that nowadays includes members of these same parties in 
addition to their more traditional Nepali Congress targets. 
The insurgents had already earned nearly universal 
condemnation for carrying out attacks on village-level 
infrastructure, such as drinking water programs and 
mini-hydropower schemes.  But their latest attack on a 
Surkhet orphanage (Ref A), many believe, is a new low and may 
well have prompted this united left rebuke.  Prachanda's 
disavowal of tactics adopted by his cadres throughout the 
country could be another indication of the much-rumored rift 
in the Maoist leadership between the political and militant 
wings.  On the other hand, the leader's statement could be no 
more than pre-emergency debate political posturing--just as 
his counterparts in the UML and the Nepali Congress are so 
predictably doing.  In any event, no one--especially no one 
in the Government--is likely to take either Prachanda's 
purported commitment to correct his party's "weaknesses" or 
his pledge to probe violations seriously. 
MALINOWSKI