US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1414

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001414 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, PGOV, PREL, KMDR, NP 
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 22 - 28, 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 
 
 -- Minister denies government agreed to restrict army: 
 Finance Minister Dr. Parakeet Chandler Lorain said 
 (7/27) the previous talk team of the government had not 
 committed to restrict the army within five kilometers 
 of the barracks and that the best thing was to sit down 
 for talks rather than communicating through letters. 
 (centrist "Kantipur," V/D, 7/28) 
 
 -- Maoists send response letter to government: The 
 Maoists have sent a response letter to the government 
 with five conditions and a five-day ultimatum.  The 
 conditions include the compliance by the army with all 
agreed-upon decisions so far.  The so-called five-year 
antiterrorism treaty with the U.S. should be annulled 
and all the U.S. military advisors and experts should 
be expelled from the county.  The political agenda 
proposed by the former government should be publicized. 
(independent "Nepal Samacharpatra," V/D, 7/28) 
 
-- Government proposes third round talks by mid-August: 
The government dispatched (7/25) a 14-point letter to 
the Maoists with a proposal to hold the third round of 
formal talks by mid-August. (government media, 7/26) 
 
-- U.S. is here for business, nothing else: U.S. 
Embassy spokesperson: Amid allegations of excessive 
interest and intervention in the internal matters of 
the country, the United States has said she wants peace 
in Nepal so that the nation can attract more U.S. 
investment.  "All we have been saying is that we want 
peace so that we can urge American businesses to invest 
in Nepal," director of American Center, Constance 
Colding Jones told "The Himalayan Times."  She said 
America wants the Maoists to behave "like a regular 
political party" and stop indulging in killings, 
kidnappings, extortions and threats.  "Our only concern 
is that we do not want to have yet another hotspot in 
this area," said Jones.  "We also have to protect our 
own interests here in Nepal," she said referring to the 
investment of over US$ 700 million through the USAID 
over the past 50 years.  Jones dismissed the Maoists' 
allegation that the U.S. is intervening too much in 
Nepal, saying the joint military exercises by the 
armies of the two countries have nothing to do with the 
rise of Maoists' rebellion and is a part of the 
"regular trainings that have been going on for over 10 
years". (pro-India "Himalayan Times," E/D, 7/27) 
 
-- Government establishes "contacts" with Maoists: 
Amidst apprehensions that the Maoists may call off the 
six-month long truce and resort to violence again, the 
government today made "informal" contacts with them. 
"We have had an informal contact with them," a 
government source told "The Kathmandu Post."  "We have 
received a positive message from the Maoists that they 
will respond to our last week's letter within two to 
three days."  (Major newspapers, 7/22) 
 
-- Five democracies urge Maoists to end "extortions": 
The Industrial Security Group (ISG), a consortium of 
five major democracies including USA, UK, France, 
Germany and India, has asked the Maoists to give up 
"criminal extortions" and sincerely pursue the peace 
process.  It was on the statement issued here today 
(7/21) by the British Embassy, on behalf of the ISG. 
(centrist "Kathmandu Post," E/D, and "The Himalayan 
Times," 7/22) 
 
-- Government must express its regrets: Maoists: The 
Maoists informed that they would open both the contact 
off 
ice and the office of its student wing, provided the 
government regretted the arrest of Bharat Dhungana, 
secretary at the Maoists contact office.  The general 
 
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secretary of the Maoists' student wing said that the 
 
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Maoists would immediately open their office and they 
would even reply to the letter sent by the government 
if the latter "repented" in public.  ("Kantipur," 7/23) 
 
-- Government assures full security to Maoists: Urging 
Maoists to reopen the Kathmandu contact office, 
Information Minister and talks-convener Kamal Thapa 
said Tuesday government will provide full security to 
Maoist negotiators and is committed to peace talks. 
(Major Newspapers, 7/23) 
 
-- Maoists send "tough" letter to govt.: The Maoists, 
in their letter, have demanded immediate implementation 
of the decisions reached during the second round of 
peace talks.  They have stated, "if the government does 
not do so, we will suppose the government has 
unilaterally broken the ceasefire and left the peace 
process."  In particular, the letter demanded to limit 
army within five kilometers periphery of the barrack. 
This was one of the agreements reached between the 
Lokendra Bahadur Chand government and the Maoists.  On 
the King's role, the letter said the talks are getting 
momentum due to the King, who is "playing foul from 
behind the curtains".  "The King should, either get 
involved in the peace talks directly, or stop playing 
foul by granting formal authority to the government to 
hold talks," said the letter. (Major newspapers, 7/24) 
 
2. MAOIST ACTIVITIES 
 
-- U.S. refutes Maoists' allegations: The U.S. embassy 
has refuted recent allegations made by the Maoists that 
there were linkages between the Royal Nepal Army and 
the U.S. Army.  "There is no existence of American 
military personnel in Nepal.  Only two army liaison 
officers are in the American embassy here," said 
Constance Jones, the director of the American Center, 
Kathmandu.  Jones stressed on talks to find a peaceful 
solution of the present problem.  She reiterated that 
there would be no change in American policy if the 
Maoists continue with their extortion, murders and 
kidnappings. (government-owned "Rising Nepal," E/D, 
7/26) 
 
-- Home Ministry, Maoists deny attacks: In two separate 
statements, Home Ministry and Maoists have denied 
reports of attacks on Sugauli Customs Police Post. 
Various published reports said Monday armed-Maoists 
attacked the police post looting half a dozen weapons. 
(Media reports, 7/22) 
 
-- Maoist cadres want revival of peace process: Hardly 
a day had expired after the Maoists closed down their 
contact office in Kathmandu and announced that its 
leaders were going underground due to security 
concerns, many rank and file Maoist cadres held corner 
meetings in various districts arguing for the need to 
continue the peace process.  ("The Kathmandu Post," 
7/22) 
 
-- Maoists loot solar panels: A large group of armed 
Maoists looted two solar panels connected to the 
repeater tower of the Nepal Telecommunication 
Corporation (NTC) in Kapilvastu district this morning, 
confirmed a guard stationed at the tower.  ("Kantipur," 
7/24) 
3.  NEPAL-U.S. 
 
-- Garment bill gets U.S. green signal: Following the 
Foreign Secretary Madhu Raman Acharya's week-long visit 
to Washington, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has agreed 
to move ahead with the bill favoring Nepali garments in 
the U.S. market.  However, her spokesman, Scott Gerber, 
stressed that the senator will stand firm on moving 
ahead with the bill only on the condition that 
incidents like the May deportation "don't happen 
again."  Nepalese-made garments are currently subjected 
to an average tariff rate of 18 percent in the U.S., 
which absorbs up to 80 per cent of the garments 
manufactured in Nepal.  The enactment of the bill would 
pave the way for duty and quota free access for a two- 
year period. (Compiled from major dailies, 7/27) 
 
-- Nepali team requests U.S. to pass bill on garments: 
 
A Nepali delegation led by Madhu Raman Acharya, 
secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met E. 
 
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Ashley Wills, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative and 
Cecilia Leahy Kleln, Director, WTO Accession and 
requested them to pass the bill on Nepali garments at 
the U.S. Senate soon.  The bill was withdrawn from the 
Senate last month on the grounds of Nepal's deportation 
of 18 Tibetans to China.  ("The Kathmandu Post" & "The 
Himalayan Times," 7/24) 
4.  BHUTANESE REFUGEES 
 
-- India disagrees U.S.'s assertion: India has 
disagreed the U.S.'s remarks that India's role was 
compulsory for the resolution of the Bhutanese refugee 
crisis.  Indian Embassy First Secretary Sanjay Verma 
said "bi-lateral talks is the appropriate 
medium"..."since the affairs is between the two countries 
[Nepal and Bhutan].  (centrist "Rajdhani," V/D, 7/27) 
 
-- Bhutan in "no mood" to take back refugees: Hiram A. 
Ruiz, the Director of Communications of the U.S. 
Committee for Refugees (USCR) pointed out that in light 
of the "obstinate position" of the Druk government on 
the issue of taking back the refugees, the 
international community had the responsibility to 
resettle the refugees in the third world countries. 
Speaking to "The Kathmandu Post" after his three-day 
visit to the four refugee camps in eastern Nepal, Ruiz 
said, "Given the obstinate position of the Bhutanese 
government, the repatriation of the refugees at this 
point seems impossible."  He added that it was highly 
likely that Bhutan would make it impossible for the 
refugees to return to their homeland. ("The Kathmandu 
Post," 7/27) 
 
-- Editorial on USCR Director's remarks: The USCR 
Director's remarks, in fact, reinforced the views held 
by many that Bhutan is not playing a fair game.  The 
Khudunabari verification showed that the majority of 
the refugees (about 76 percent) are genuine Bhutanese 
but Bhutan has found one reason or another to refuse 
then their right to return home.  Indeed, over 70 
percent of the verified refugees are Bhutanese who 
sought refuge "voluntarily".  The USCR Director's plea 
to involve India in repatriating the refugees to their 
homeland needs to be taken seriously by New Delhi.  In 
fact, unless the parties involved along with countries 
and agencies concerned such as UNHCR are able to reach 
an agreement satisfactory to the refugees, the 
situation is bound to become murkier. (Editorial in the 
"Kathmandu Post," 7/28) 
 
-- Druk regime on "ethnic cleansing" drive?: At a time 
when the Bhutanese refugee issue has raked up an 
international storm, a new controversy has come to the 
fore with the Druk government issuing an order to 
demolish all the Nepali style houses in Southern Bhutan 
and replace them with Buddhist style houses. 
("Kantipur," 7/27) 
 
-- U.S. government to be briefed on Bhutanese refugees: 
Two senior officials of U.S. Refugee Committee will 
soon visit Bhutanese refugee camps and will brief the 
U.S. government on the real situation of Bhutanese 
refugees. ("Kantipur," 7/22) 
-- Refugee categorization: A Nepali, Bhutani joint 
verification team is expected to complete its work on 
appeals of a controversial categorization of Bhutanese 
refugees for repatriation by July 31, Foreign Ministry 
Spokesman Dr. Madan Bhattarai said.  (centrist 
"Annapurna Post," V/D, 7/24) 
 
-- U.S. member visits camp: Senior member of the U.S. 
Refugee Committee Hiram Ruij visited the Bhutanese 
refugee camps.  Sources claimed the U.S. visitor had a 
meeting with donor agencies involved in the upkeep of 
refugees.  ("Kantipur," 724) 
 
5.  OTHERS 
 
-- Din of protests against India's "unilateral act": 
Over 100 people, representing various social and 
student organizations, staged protest in the capital 
today condemning India's unilateral construction of 
Mahalisagar Bund and encroachment of Nepali land on the 
international border. ("The Kathmandu Post," 7/26) 
 
MALINOWSKI