US embassy cable - 05KATHMANDU1155

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001155 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NP, AC, PM 
DEPT FOR IN/R/MR 
DEPT FOR SA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
DEPT FOR SA/PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, PGOV, PREL, KMDR, NP 
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT FROM MAY 24 TO 31, 2005 
 
 
1. POLITICAL AFFAIRS 
 
`Supporting democracy is not meddling': Indian Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh said THAT India has no intention 
to interfere in the internal affairs of Nepal, and that 
attempts to encourage democracy in the northern neighbor 
should not be construed as interference.  "Our attempts to 
encourage democracy in our neighborhood should not be 
construed as unwanted interference," Singh told Delhi- 
based foreign correspondents on Monday.  The Indian PM's 
statement came days after vice-chairman Tulsi Giri slammed 
India for meddling in the internal affairs of Nepal. 
Reaffirming India's continued support for the twin pillars 
of Nepal's stability - constitutional democracy and 
multiparty democracy - he said, "the monarchy and all the 
political parties must come together to ensure that the 
polity functions effectively."  Singh declined to comment 
on whether India was willing to engage with Maoist rebels 
too - amidst reports that Indian intelligence "winked" as 
underground Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai and his 
associates came to meet Indian communist leaders recently. 
(Centrist "Kathmandu Post," E/D, circulation: 20,000 and 
other dailies, 5/31) 
 
King meets with journalists: King Gyanendra has said that 
instead of demanding for the restoration of House of 
Representatives and moving towards constituent assembly, 
the political parties should maintain dialogue and 
understanding by transforming the conflict into durable 
peace and push the country forward.  The king made these 
remarks in a collective audience he granted to 16 editors 
of several weekly newspapers. (Centrist "Nepal 
Samacharpatra," V/D, 5/30, Circulation: 60,000) 
 
King urges parties to take up responsibility: King 
Gyanendra has urged the political parties having faith in 
democracy to come forward to take up their responsibility 
to protect democracy from terrorism, control corruption, 
stop misuse of national coffer, and hold free and fair 
elections.  Addressing a program organized by Tribhuvan 
University to felicitate him on Friday, King Gyanendra 
stated:  "We have always held discussions with all in the 
interests of the country and people and the trend will 
continue in the future as well."  He stated that February 
1 move was taken in view of popular will and was in the 
interest of the nation and the people.  He expressed his 
commitment to hold all the elections that were due for the 
last three years including holding municipal elections 
(within a year). (Compiled from major dailies, 5/28) 
 
Choose democracy or republic: Coming down heavily on King 
Gyanendra's February 1 move, chiefs of agitating political 
parties asked the monarch to choose between absolute 
democracy and a republic. (Centrist "Kantipur," V/D, 5/28, 
Circulation: 100,000) 
 
2.  MEDIA OPPRESSION 
 
Communication Corner goes to SC: Managing Director of 
Communication Corner (CC), Gopal Guragain, on Monday, 
moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the government 
directive to close his company.  Questioning the legality 
of the directive, he sought an apex court order to annul 
the directive.  Issuing a cryptic one sentence order, the 
Ministry of Information and Communications, had asked CC, 
a radio program producer and distributor to a network of 
commercial FMs and community radios across the country, to 
close down the company, saying it received written 
submission that "it is being run illegally." (Media 
reports, 5/31) 
 
Nepali media faces pressure, terror: The Board of the 
World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has said Nepali 
media has faced an "onslaught of pressure and terror" in 
the wake of February 1 royal takeover.  "Censorship and 
financial pressure have been imposed on independent media 
outlets, creating conditions where journalists are no 
longer capable of carrying out their work," the resolution 
said. (Centrist "Kantipur," V/D, circulation: 100,000, 
5/31) 
 
Army arrests two scribes: The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) 
arrested two journalists based in Ramechhap district and 
interrogated another local journalist over their recent 
visits to different villages.  According to sources, the 
RNA on Friday arrested Himal Dhungel, president of FNJ 
Ramechhap district branch and Nawaraj Pathak, local 
correspondent of Nepal Samacharpatra. (The Kathmandu Post, 
5/29) 
 
FNJ organizes protest rally: Expressing solidarity with 
the Communication Corner - a private radiobroadcasting 
agency, which has been ordered to shut down by the 
government - the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) 
organized protest rally in New Baneshwor on Sunday.  The 
rally later transformed into corner meeting in Babarmahal. 
FNJ President, addressing the meeting, said that the 
federation was prepared to work together with all to 
oppose moves to throttle free press. (Major dailies, 5/30) 
Disclose changes in press law: The Committee to Protect 
Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday, called on the government to 
disclose all the amendments being introduced in some media- 
related acts.  The proposed law - that now awaits royal 
assent after it was passed by the cabinet in its weekly 
meeting last Wednesday - bans broadcast of any news by FM 
stations.  It also bans simultaneous broadcast of programs 
from different centers without the prior approval of the 
government. (The Kathmandu Post, 5/26) 
3.  MAOIST INSURGENCY 
 
Prachanda confirms Bhattarai's Delhi visit: Burying the 
controversy surrounding Maoist leader Dr. Baburam 
Bhattarai's meeting with Indian political leaders, Maoist 
chairman Prachanda Friday made it clear that his 
lieutenants, Dr. Bhattarai and Krishna Bahadur Mahara, had 
been assigned to hold meetings with the Indian government 
and political parties.  In a statement, Prachanda said Dr. 
Bhattarai and Mahara were "specially assigned" to hold 
meetings with the Indian government and political parties 
so as to create an atmosphere conducive for "pro-democracy 
movement in Nepal." (The Kathmandu Post, 5/28) 
 
Karat denies meeting Bhattarai: Communist Party of India 
(Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat formally denied 
that he met Nepali Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai.  In 
a statement issued here, Karat said the report, which 
appeared in the press, was baseless and untrue.  "No such 
meeting took place,'' he said. `'The report published in a 
national daily that I had a meeting with a Maoist leader 
from Nepal, arranged by the Indian security agencies is 
untrue,'' the CPI (M) General Secretary said.  In a report 
carried in its Wednesday's edition, The Times of India 
claimed that Karat had "confirmed" the meeting although he 
did not share details. (Media reports, 5/27) 
 
Dr. Bhattarai in Delhi: Facilitated by Indian intelligence 
agencies, Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai clandestinely 
met a top communist leader in the Indian capital last 
week, according to a news report.  A Times of India report 
"Indian spooks host Nepal rebel", datelined New Delhi on 
Tuesday said Bhattarai's meeting with General Secretary of 
the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Prakash Karat, was 
organized to convince Maoists to join the pro-democracy 
movement spearheaded by the seven political parties in 
Nepal.  "Official sources indicated that Bhattarai was, 
indeed, being taken around in the capital by intelligence 
officials," the report said.  New Delhi "facilitated" the 
meeting to use the influence of Indian left parties over 
the Maoists, to get them to join the seven-party alliance 
in Nepal, the report has said, quoting sources.  During 
the meeting, the report said, Bhattarai admitted to the 
fast widening gulf between him and Maoist chairman 
Prachanda. (Major report in most dailies, 5/26) 
 
4.  U.S. 
 
Ambassador's interviews with the press: This week 
Ambassador James F. Moriarty gave interviews to Nepal's 
prominent publications and some well-known international 
news agencies.  Nepal's leading dailies "The Kathmandu 
Post" and "Kantipur," well known English weekly "Nepali 
Times" and popular vernacular tabloid "Jana Aastha," and 
international news agencies BBC Nepali Service, AP and 
Reuters interviewed the Ambassador beginning from Monday. 
Most of them have already published the Ambassador's 
interviews, highlighting his repeated emphasis on the need 
for reconciliation between the King and political parties 
to resolve Nepal's current political crisis and address 
the Maoist insurgency.  Meanwhile, two vernacular 
newspapers and later the state-owned "Rising Nepal" 
misinterpreted an online BBC story based on the 
Ambassador's interview with BBC Nepali Service, by 
attributing King Gyanendra's remarks to the Ambassador 
that seemed to indicate a shift in U.S. attitude toward 
the King's actions of February 1.  On May 27, the 
Kathmandu Post on its front page published the Embassy 
correction with relevant additional information taken from 
its own interview with the Ambassador. Also on May 27 the 
Himalayan Times, Nepal's largest circulating English 
daily, published excerpts from the speech delivered by the 
Ambassador on May 26 to celebrate U.S. Independence Day. 
 
U.S. delivers non-lethal aid: The United States has 
delivered a consignment of non-lethal assistance to the 
Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) for the first time after the 
February 1 royal move.  A huge chartered plane, carrying 
non-lethal equipment, landed at the Tribhuvan 
International Airport at around 10:30 this morning. "Yes, 
that's true (the non-lethal assistance has arrived)," 
confirmed Constance Colding Jones, the American Center 
Director and US embassy spokesperson. She had said 
yesterday that the U.S. had not suspended non-lethal 
assistance to Nepal.  Non-lethal equipment includes 
helmets, boots, flak jackets and other materials. (Pro- 
India "Himalayan Times," E/D, circulation: 25,000, 5/26) 
 
MILLARD