US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1377

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001377 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, PGOV, PREL, KMDR, NP 
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 15 - 21, 2003 
 
 
-  STATE FOR NP, AC, PM 
-  STATE FOR IN/R/MR 
-  STATE FOR SA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
-  STATE FOR SA/PPD 
 
 1.  PEACE TALKS 
 
 -- Maoists close Kathmandu contact office: The Maoists 
 have closed down the contact office in Kathmandu, open 
 from April 10.  The government is shocked with the 
 Maoists' decision to close the Kathmandu contact 
 office, but it "thinks" such a move will not affect the 
 forthcoming peace talks, government talks-convener 
 Kamal Thapa told Nepalnews late Sunday evening. 
 (Nepalnews.com, 7/20) 
 
 -- Government pledges full security to Maoist leaders 
 once dialogue begins: The government today assured full 
 security of the Maoist negotiating team and promised 
"safe passage" in the event of the peace talks failing. 
The government assurance came shortly after the Maoists 
declared that its negotiating leaders have gone 
underground and that its contact office in Kathmandu 
has been closed indefinitely. (Media reports, 7/21) 
 
-- Security beefed up nation-wide: Security has been 
beefed up in the capital and in the western region of 
the country, following the Maoists' closure of their 
office in the capital.  According to security sources, 
the security forces have assumed high alert after the 
Maoists started attacks on some incumbent and retired 
security personnel in recent days. (Major newspapers, 
7/21) 
 
-- EU ready to facilitate: The European Union (EU) is 
ready to facilitate the ongoing peace process between 
the government and the Maoists if both sides agree on 
its involvement, said Rudiger Wenk, chief of the 
delegation of the European Commission in Nepal. 
(government-owned "Rising Nepal," E/D, 7/20) 
 
-- Government, Maoists ready to confront: The Maoists 
have gone underground and resumed abductions, 
extortion". The government has begun arresting Maoists". 
Both are preparing to confront". The RIM is formulating 
for a deadly war in Nepal". The Maoists have imported a 
large quantity of weapons. (centrist "Janasatta," V/W, 
7/19) 
 
-- Information Minister on peace talks: The government 
is fully committed to honor and implement all the 
decisions made jointly with the Maoists during the 
previous rounds of talks, Information Minister and 
government negotiator Kamal Thapa said. (Media reports, 
7/19) 
 
-- Maoists not to turn away from talks: The government- 
Maoists peace talks got narrowly saved from the brink 
of being broken off.  Although the top level Maoist 
leadership concluded that there had been no significant 
achievements in the peace process until recently, it 
has decided not to break off the ceasefire. (centrist 
"Bimarsha, " V/W, 7/18) 
 
-- Talks likely to be broken off: All the leaders of 
the Maoist talks team are busy in the party's internal 
affairs". The government has violated the code of 
conducts". There is a strong possibility of the breaking 
off of the talks.  (Pro-Maoist "Jana Dharana," V/W, 
7/17) 
 
-- Uncertainty over talks spurs security beef-up: The 
government has stepped up security throughout the 
country owing to the Maoists' "suspicious activities" - 
- increased movement, arms accumulation and forceful 
extortion -- in the recent past. (pro-India "Himalayan 
Times," E/D, 7/16) 
 
-- Maoist spokesperson has no knowledge of government 
letter for talks: Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur 
Mahara expressed his ignorance about the government's 
formal invitation for the third round of peace talks 
with the Maoists.  Mahara's comment on the government's 
formal invitation comes a day after the Minister for 
Informati 
on and Communication, who is also one of the 
government negotiating team members, sent a letter to 
Dr. Bhattarai inviting him to sit down for formal talks 
as soon as possible. (centrist "Kantipur," V/D, 7/15) 
2.  MAOIST ACTIVITIES 
-- Armed Maoists attack police post: Some 50 armed- 
Maoists Sunday evening attacked a police post of 
Sugauli Customs Office in Parsa district, looting 
around a dozen weapons. (Nepalnews.com, 7/21) 
 
-- Maoists bring in weapons: The Police Headquarters 
said that the Maoists had brought into the capital 
about five dozens of sophisticated weapons through 
various entry points of the Kathmandu Valley.  The 
police said the Maoists were using sand-delivering 
rental trucks to transport the weapons. (centrist 
"Spacetime Dainik," V/D, 7/20) 
-- Maoists resort to abduction: The Maoists have 
abducted people in at least nine districts, violating 
the ceasefire code of conduct. ("The Rising Nepal," 
7/19) 
 
-- Retired cop killed by Maoists for refusing donation: 
Maoists on Wednesday night killed a retired policeman 
at his home in Ilam district after he refused to donate 
them the foodstuff and cash amount they had demanded. 
(Major newspapers, 7/19) 
 
-- Maoists' high command meeting begins: High command 
meeting of the Maoists began in the remote village of 
Thimori in the Surkhet-Jajarkot border area on 
Thursday.  All central committee members, except Dr. 
Baburam Bhattarai and C.P. Gajurel, who are 
participating in the RIM meeting in India, are present 
in the meeting.  The Maoist meeting is taking place 
amidst tight security.  Maoist militia is deployed 
around 15 kilometers of Thimori and no one is allowed 
to enter or leave the village. (centrist "Nepalipatra," 
V/W, 7/18) 
 
-- Maoists kill UML cadre: A group of Maoists allegedly 
thrashed to death a committee member of the CPN-UML of 
Rupandehi district.  The rebels severely beat him on 
Thursday night while he was on his way home. (Media 
reports, 7/16) 
 
-- RIM slams U.S. military activities in West Asia: The 
regional conference of the parties and organizations of 
the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) has 
denounced the "increasing military cooperation between 
the U.S. and the reactionary regimes of the region in 
the service of U.S. imperialist aggression and 
occupation in West Asia and elsewhere."  RIM is the 
regional organization of different communist parties in 
the region including the Communist Party of India 
(Marxist-Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal 
(Maoist). ("The Himalayan Times," 7/15) 
 
-- Maoists bring in weapons: Security sources have 
informed that the Maoists have imported weapons [from 
India] through various points of Kailali district at a 
time when they and the government are discussing the 
third round of peace talks. ("Kantipur," 7/15) 
 
3.  POLITICAL AFFAIRS 
 
-- King-Maoists plotting against democracy: Koirala: 
Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala said 
that the king and the Maoists were jointly plotting 
against democracy.  He claimed that the ongoing 
movement had weakened the plot to some extent.  He 
asked the Maoists and the king to agree on some crucial 
points for progressive reforms.  Koirala also said that 
the five agitating political parties would not give up 
their stance for reactivating the present constitution. 
(Leading dailies, 7/19) 
 
-- Prime Minister toward fatal decision: As Prime 
Minister Thapa failed to bring political parties into 
the government, he is now moving toward restoring the 
dissolved parliament, a step that would once again push 
the country into darkness and prove lethal to Thapa 
himself. (rightist "Hindu," V/W, 7/17) 
 
-- Squabbling in UML over: The protracted central 
committee meet of the UML ended Tuesday patching up the 
differences between the factions led by general 
secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and standing committee 
 
SIPDIS 
member K. P. Oli. (Media reports, 7/16) 
4.  NEPAL-U.S. 
 
-- Foreign Secretary leaves for U.S.: Foreign Se 
cretary 
Madhu Raman Acharya left Kathmandu (7/18) for 
Washington D.C. to hold talks with senior U.S. 
officials on bilateral relations and matters of mutual 
interest.  Talking to reporters before his departure, 
Acharya said that he would hold discussions on several 
issues related to bilateral cooperation.  "But the 
proposed Nepal Trade Bill for duty and quota free 
access to Nepali garments to the U.S. market will be on 
top of our agenda," said Acharya, who is accompanied by 
the president of Garments Association of Nepal. 
Acharya also gave indication that he would also discuss 
with the U.S. officials on Nepal's security situation 
and Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees.  Meanwhile, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in it's a press release, 
has stated that the two sides would hold consultations 
on broad areas like development assistance, bilateral 
cooperation, Nepal's accession to WTO, and regional and 
international issues. (centrist "Kathmandu Post," E/D, 
and Kantipur, 7/19) 
                     . 
5.  BUSINESS/ECONOMY 
 
-- Nepal's WTO membership likely in September: Nepal's 
accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) during 
the Cancun ministerial meet in September is almost 
certain, following a successful completion of a five- 
day bilateral negotiations in Geneva on Friday. ("The 
Kathmandu Post," 7/20) 
 
-- New budget announced: Finance Minister Dr. Prakash 
Chandra Lohani announced (7/17) a budget of 102.4 
billion rupees (1.32 billion dollars) promulgated 
through a royal ordinance in the absence of a sitting 
parliament.  He has reduced both security and royal 
household expenditures nominally". Five agitating 
parties Sunday (7/20) held the third "special session" 
of the already-dissolved House of Representatives, 
condemning the government budget for fiscal year 
2003/04. (Media reports, 7/21) 
 
6.  BHUTANESE REFUGEES 
 
-- Nepali citizenship forms for refugees: Bhutanese 
government said the Joint Verification Team (JVT) would 
start distributing applications for Nepali citizenship 
to those who fell under category II in the Khudunabari 
camp from the last week of August, a decision reached 
in the 14th ministerial meeting.  Nepal, however, is 
confident that none of the refugees under category II 
would apply for Nepali citizenship. ("The Himalayan 
Times," 7/20) 
-- Bhutanese assembly against refugee repatriation: 
Defying international pressure, the Bhutanese National 
Assembly adopted a defiance posture as most members 
opposed return of the 100,00-plus Bhutanese living in 
refugee camps in Nepal for more than a decade. ("The 
Kathmandu Post" and "Kantipur," 7/20) 
 
-- EU urges international community to resolve refugee 
problem: Rudiger Wenk, chief of the delegation of the 
European Commission in Nepal urged the international 
community and Nepal to find a pragmatic and realistic 
solution to the 13-year-old Bhutanese refugee problem. 
(Compiled from major newspapers, 7/19) 
 
-- UK expresses support for Bhutanese refugees: The 
United Kingdom has sent a letter to Bhutanese exiled 
leader Teknath Rizal in India, expressing support for 
the refugees staying in the camps in eastern Nepal, 
claimed the exiled human rights leader through a 
telephonic interview with "The Kathmandu Post" from 
India. ("The Kathmandu Post," 7/16) 
 
-- Government to correct refugee verification report: 
The government is in a mood to rectify the widely 
criticized Bhutanese refugee verification report.  The 
international community, including the U.S., had 
expressed severe disapproval over the report. (centrist 
"Rajdhani," V/D, 7/15) 
 
7.  OTHERS 
 
-- UML against peace troops to Iraq: CPN-UML General 
Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said Sunday he and his 
 
SIPDIS 
party were against the government plan to send peace 
troops to Iraq. (Media reports, 7/20) 
 
-- Unsolved inundation problem creates havoc: The 
inundation problem in four VDCs of Banke district, 
caused by India's unilateral construction of the 
Laxmanpur barrage and 
 its embankment, has remained 
unresolved as officials of Nepal and India failed to 
hold a crucial meeting to address it. (Feature article 
in the "Kathmandu Post," 7/16) 
-- Iraq safe working place: The Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs has given green signal to the Ministry of Labor 
and Transport Management for allowing Nepalis to go 
Iraq for employment.  The Labor Ministry had requested 
the Foreign Ministry to decide whether Nepalis could be 
sent to Iraq as the U.S. armed force continued to face 
attacks. ("The Kathmandu Post" and "Kantipur," 7/15) 
 
MALINOWSKI