US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU860

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2013 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency, Government of Nepal (GON) 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  GOVERNMENT HOLDS SECOND ROUND OF DIALOGUE 
WITH MAOIST INSURGENTS 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 0837 
 
Classified By: DCM ROBERT K. BOGGS.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
1.  (U) On May 9 Government of Nepal (GON) negotiators held a 
second round of talks with Maoist insurgents at a hotel in 
Kathmandu (located less than one km from the Embassy).  The 
talks concluded more quickly than the first round, held April 
27, ending after only two and a half hours.  As of 4:00 P.M. 
local time May 9, neither the GON nor the Maoists had 
announced to the press the results of this latest round.  No 
date for a subsequent round of talks has yet been announced. 
 
 
2.  (C) Police sources said that this latest round produced 
three significant agreements.  First, the GON reportedly 
agreed that soldiers from the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) would 
patrol no farther than five km outside their barracks. 
Second, the GON committed to releasing three Maoist Central 
Committee Member detainees, and to providing information on 
the whereabouts of another 320 Maoist detainees.  Third, both 
sides agreed to the establishment of a 13-member committee to 
monitor compliance with the ceasefire code of conduct. 
 
3.  (C) A partial list of the members of the monitoring 
committee provided by police sources includes six names of 
individuals (four of them openly sympathetic to the Maoists), 
with the remaining seven unnamed members designated by 
membership in other organizations (i.e., a member of the 
National Human Rights Commission; a member of the Bar 
Association; a member of the National Women's Commission; a 
member of the journalists association; a member of the 
National Chamber of Commerce).  Another member, Hem Bahadur 
Singh, is a former Inspector General of Police. 
 
4.  (C)  Comment:  At first glance, the GON appears to have 
ceded more territory in this latest round than they have 
gained.  Allowing the RNA to patrol at all--even if limited 
to a 5-km radius around their barracks--represents at best a 
minor concession for the Maoists, who had been demanding that 
the troops be confined to barracks.  The GON had indicated 
earlier its willingness to release the last few members of 
the Central Committee still detained.  Its decision to do so 
now, after the conclusion of the second round of talks is 
likely intended as a show of good faith.  It is too early to 
tell if the final composition of the monitoring team will be 
more politically balanced than it appears at present; much 
depends on the affiliations of the remaining seven 
individuals to be identified.  It is difficult to determine, 
based on these preliminary reports, the extent of GON 
concessions.  If our sources' descriptions are accurate, it 
seems likely that the GON commitments are intended as 
confidence-building measures to maintain momentum--and thus 
popular support--for dialogue. 
MALINOWSKI