US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU563

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000563 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE 
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST 
FINANCING 
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, IN, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, MARCH 22-28 
 
REFERENCE:  (A) KATHMANDU 0472 
            (B) KATHMANDU 0140 
            (C) KATHMANDU 0358 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  Progress toward peace talks between the Government of 
Nepal (GON) and Maoist insurgents remains stalled during 
King Gyanendra's two-week visit to India.  In the interim, 
Maoist and GON representatives are accusing one another of 
failing to create a "conducive atmosphere" for talks, and 
violating the code of conduct agreed upon during the 
ceasefire (Ref A).  Police sources said that Maoist 
idealogue, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai arrived in Kathmandu on the 
afternoon of March 28.  A Maoist leader in Sindhuli District 
declared on March 23 that the Maoists were not involved in 
the brutal murders of Krishna Mohan Shrestha, Inspector 
General of the Armed Police Force, his wife and bodyguard 
(Ref B), directly contradicting previous statements by Dr. 
Baburam Bhattarai that Maoists had accepted responsibility 
for the murders.  In spite of the disagreements, 
reconstruction efforts have gotten underway with the repair 
of telephone lines destroyed in past Maoist attacks.  End 
summary. 
 
MAOIST LEADER ARRIVES IN KATHMANDU 
---------------------------------- 
 
2.  Police sources said that Maoist idealogue Dr. Baburam 
Bhattarai arrived in Kathmandu on March 28.  Bhattarai was 
reportedly meeting with a pro-Maoist lawyer in downtown 
Kathmandu late afternoon. 
 
BLAME GAME OVER PEACE TALKS STANDSTILL 
-------------------------------------- 
 
3.  As expected, progress toward possible peace talks 
between Maoist insurgents and the Government of Nepal (GON) 
remains stalled during King Gyanendra's March 18-30 visit to 
India.  In the interim, the two sides have traded charges 
that the other is impeding progress by failing to create a 
"conducive atmosphere" for eventual dialogue.  Narayan Singh 
Pun, Minister of Physical Planning and Works and government- 
appointed coordinator for the peace talks, accused the 
Maoists on March 23 of delaying the peace talks by 
continually increasing their demands.  Pun said the 
insurgents have issued new demands, such as the immediate 
release of all Maoist detainees from GON custody, as 
preconditions for peace talks, refusing to even sit for 
"goodwill talks" unless their demands are met. 
 
4.  Maoist leader Prachanda and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the 
chief negotiator for the Maoists, repeated charges that the 
GON is not moving quickly enough toward peace talks, and has 
failed to follow through on its putative promises to release 
all prisoners.  Prachanda also criticized the GON for its 
delay in forming a negotiating team two months after the 
ceasefire was mutually declared, and said that these 
"irresponsible activities" were raising doubt and suspicion 
instead of building confidence and trust.  Krishna Bahadur 
Mahara, member of the Maoist negotiating team, said talks 
would begin once the GON releases all prisoners and 
withdraws the pending criminal cases against five party 
leaders, including Prachanda and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the 
two most senior Maoist leaders.  (Note:  The GON has 
released from detention over thirty lower-ranking Maoist 
cadres this week, and has released other detainees as well 
since the announcement of the ceasefire.  Minister Pun has 
explained publicly that prisoners cannot be released without 
following proper legal procedures, and private lawsuits 
against Maoist leaders cannot be waived by the GON.  End 
note.) 
 
ACCUSATIONS OF CODE OF CONDUCT VIOLATIONS 
----------------------------------------- 
5.  Minister Pun told an audience of human rights activists 
on March 24 that the GON had received reports of seventy to 
eighty incidents of ceasefire violations by the Maoists, 
amounting to what he termed "armed terror."  Pun said the 
reports detail continued extortion attempts; looting; 
abduction of children, women and several policemen; 
physical assault on civilians; and the murders of a school 
teacher and a Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist 
Leninist (CPN-UML) worker.  Maoist spokesman Mahara denied 
the reports and issued counter-charges accusing the GON of 
violating the code of conduct by performing illegal searches 
and arrests, banning organized meetings, and sending army 
personnel, dressed as civilians, to Maoist programs in order 
to spy on Maoist cadres.  A Maoist district leader in 
Lalitpur allegedly declared that if the GON continued with 
such activities, Maoists would soon retaliate with force. 
Dipak Gurung, Spokesman for the Royal Nepal Army (RNA), 
responded that maintaining law and order is not violating 
the code of conduct. 
 
MAOIST LEADER LIES ABOUT IGP'S MURDER 
------------------------------------- 
 
6.  A Maoist leader in Sindhuli District participating in a 
roundtable conference on March 23 denied that the Maoists 
were involved in the brutal murders of Krishna Mohan 
Shrestha, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force, his 
wife and bodyguard (Ref B).  His comments directly 
contradicted Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, senior-level Maoist 
leader and head of the Maoist negotiating team, who 
reportedly said his party accepted responsibility for the 
murders.  Investigations into the killings concluded that 
they were part of a strategy of a special task force within 
the Maoist party to kill political, security and 
administrative chiefs (Ref C). 
 
RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS UNDERWAY 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  Telephone service has been restored throughout the far- 
western regions, after being destroyed by Maoists during the 
insurgency.  In Tehrathum District alone, Maoist attacks 
damaged close to thirty telephone lines, and in Dipayal 
District the insurgents severely disrupted phone service by 
destroying all the solar panels, antennas, wires and 
batteries.  Many of the districts have been without 
telephone service for over a year. 
 
MALINOWSKI