US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU551

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000551 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/SA 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, CASC, KPAO, NP, PREL 
SUBJECT: TFIZ01:  NEPAL REACTIONS TO WAR IN IRAQ FOR MARCH 
27 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 0545 
 
1.  PROTESTS AND MISSION SECURITY:  The Embassy maintained 
full services and normal working hours on March 27.  As of 
3:00 p.m. local time, Embassy knows of no protests in the 
capital against the war in Iraq or against the U.S.  A small 
anti-war protest in downtown Kathmandu on March 26 apparently 
fizzled out because of inclement weather conditions and did 
not reach the Embassy.  The Nepali-language press reported on 
March 27 that a student group in midwestern Pyuthan District 
(approximately 300 km from Kathmandu) had held a protest 
rally on March 26.  According to reports, the students burned 
an effigy of President Bush and chanted anti-American slogans. 
 
2.  MEDIA OPINION:  Major newspapers carried wire service 
reports of the fighting in Iraq, with the 14 casualties in a 
Baghdad marketplace claiming most headlines.  For the second 
consecutive day, pro-Indian daily "The Himalayan" carried 
anti-war editorials republished from the "The Guardian" in 
London.  "The Kathmandu Post," the leading English daily, 
printed a local editorial entitled "Economic Implications of 
War," which predicted a downturn in tourism, posited (without 
any supporting evidence) that "the export sector has been 
badly affected," and (spuriously) linked the Gulf conflict to 
hikes in local petroleum prices. 
 
3.  PRO-US SUPPORT:  On March 27 the Ambassador received a 
letter from a local Nepali businessman expressing "special 
thanks to the US Government for taking a hard step against 
Iraq to make stability and peace in the Middle East and all 
over the world." 
 
MALINOWSKI