Consular Visit Assesses Conditions Outside

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001183

SIPDIS

CA/OCS/ACS/NESA, DS/OP/NEA, DS/DSS/ITA AND
SA/INS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC PTER ASEC ECON NP
SUBJECT: Consular Visit Assesses Conditions Outside
Kathmandu Valley

Refs: A) Kathmandu 209 B) Kathmandu 747 C) Kathmandu

751


1. Summary. Consul and Consular Assistant completed a
five-day road trip last week to assess concerns about
the safety of AmCit travel outside the Kathmandu Valley
given the continuing Maoist insurgency, surveying
primary travel routes and remote destinations frequented
by American citizens. The consular team held two well-
attended warden meetings with AmCits living outside the
Valley, met with emergency service providers and
established contacts with key Government of Nepal (GON)
officials at the district level. The Americans visited,
many of whom have been in Nepal's hinterlands for
several years, expressed deep gratitude for the meetings
and asked many security-related questions. Some told of
encounters with Maoists, but none reported threats,
major incidents of harassment or anti-American sentiment
in those encounters. The primary road travel danger
outside the Valley continues to be from busses and
freight trucks careening around the precarious curves of
Nepal's highways. End Summary.


2. The consular team's road trip covered 800 kms from
May 30 - June 3 with stops at the two most frequented
destinations for foreign travelers outside Kathmandu
Valley as well as a remote medical clinic staffed by
Americans and operated by INGO United Mission to Nepal.
In the process, the team drove through 12 of Nepal's 75
districts. Our Embassy plated vehicle was waved through
all but two of the numerous police and army check posts
along the route. The only direct evidence of Maoist
violence encountered was the burned-out hulk of a
freight truck in Chaugidhar Village, Dhading District,
bombed by Maoists during April's bandh.

POKHARA
--------------


3. The first stop was Pokhara, Nepal's second most
popular tourist destination (after Kathmandu Valley) and
entry point for the Annapurna trekking and climbing
routes. Hoteliers, restauranteurs and merchants in this
usually bustling town bemoaned a grim tourist season.
Pokhara's 300 plus hotels were mostly empty.
Admittedly, we arrived after the end of the high tourist
season, but year-by-year comparisons indicate a dramatic
drop in Western visitors. Aside from some Indian
tourists, our estimate (confirmed by the local AmCit
hotel owner who hosted our American citizens meeting)
was that less than 300 Westerners were visiting Pokhara
during our stay.


4. A lively wardens meeting, lasting over two hours,
was held in Pokhara on May 31. Discussion of the Maoist
situation, the incidents underlying the May 16 Public
Announcement and Indo-Pak tensions dominated the meeting
attended by 19 Americans plus 2 European representatives
of INGOs with American volunteers. Consul dispelled CNN
reports of a USG decision to "evacuate" all American
citizens throughout South Asia in the wake of the then
escalating Indo-Pak conflict and carefully discussed
procedures that might be taken in the event a worsening
security situation led to a decision to advise Americans
to depart Nepal. We distributed a packet of information
with emergency contacts, emergency and crisis
procedures, Q&As about evacuation and suggested contents
for a "go kit".


5. One American NGO volunteer reported that Maoists
stopped him while riding his bicycle to work during the
last bandh and asked where he was going. He was told he
could go to a friend's house, but that it was "not OK"
to go to his office. After the meeting, several
individuals remarked that no official Embassy meeting
for Americans in Pokhara had been held for some time and
expressed thankfulness for the visit, especially in the
present difficult times.


6. While in Pokhara, the consular team held several
other very productive meetings, at hospitals, with the
Chief District Officer and with emergency service
providers. Perhaps most important were our
consultations with the local managers of Karnali Air and
Fish Tail Air, who regularly assist us with emergency
helicopter rescues in the Annapurna region. We learned
that helicopters must stop in Pokhara for refueling in
most evacuation scenarios to Kathmandu because they must
operate on minimum fuel to operate safely and land at
high altitudes, especially in high winds. We also
learned that, due to recent crashes and the contracting
of one Dynasty Air helicopter for exclusive use by the
Armed Police in Nepalgunj, the "fleet" of available
commercial rescue helicopters for Nepal has been reduced
to 7. Only Karnali Air will continue to pre-position a
helicopter in Pokhara. Lack of demand in the Everest
region coupled with the decreased number of helicopters
nationwide means the helicopters that had been pre-
positioned in Lukla have been pulled -- and they are
unlikely to return for the fall tourist season.
Emergency medevacs of trekkers and climbers, operating
chiefly from Kathmandu, will now take longer. [Note:
On the day of our meeting an Asian Airlines MI-17
helicopter was lost en route from Mount Makalu to
Lukla.]

United Mission to Nepal Visit
--------------


7. On June 1, the team proceeded over Syangya District's
torturous mountain roads to the Tansen Mission Hospital
operated by the inter-denominational INGO United Mission
to Nepal (UMN). UMN's 240 expat staff (including 71
Americans) manage hospitals, clinics, engineering and
development projects in remote locations throughout
Nepal. The hospital in Tansen, UMN's largest, has
served Nepalis in this isolated region continuously for
more than 40 years, treating cases of Japanese
encephalitis, meningitis and diarrhea, as well as
surgeries, road accidents and maternity emergencies.
During our visit, the 190-bed hospital was over
capacity, with beds spread through the hallways.


8. We held an informal wardens meeting over dinner with
the 14 Americans (including family members) and one nun
who is a U.S. permanent resident, discussing the current
security situation and procedures in the event of an
emergency. The Americans present felt concern about
their isolated location and the availability of
assistance in the event of an evacuation. There is a
serviceable helipad adjacent to the hospital. One recent
American arrival brought a satellite telephone, and we
made arrangements for an emergency test upon our return.
As we heard in Pokhara, the Americans in Tansen reported
that Maoist-called general strikes (bandhs) are strictly
observed in their locale.


9. The group reported very good relations with the
local community, the accumulation of 40 years of good
will, and no Maoist threats. However, two UMN clinics
in other locations did receive threats last year, one of
which had to be evacuated. Maoists approached the
hospital director, an American who has served in Tansen
for 12 years, for "donations" once last fall. He told
the Maoists that the hospital could not give money and
that the Maoists should go to individuals in the
community rather than the institution. He was never
approached again. He also stated that UMN's operations
in some other districts were being scaled back or
curtailed because of the security situation.

Chitwan and Return
--------------


10. Early the following morning, the consular tour
descended into the plains region (Terai) on Nepal's
southern border with India and stopped at the Royal
Chitwan National Park, one of the world's few remaining
habitats for tigers and other endangered species.
Chitwan District has experienced several sporadic
incidents of Maoist violence since hostilities renewed
in November. Nightly charges at the top of the line
resort in Chitwan were $325 per night before the
dramatic tourist downturn. Now, in attempts to increase
occupancy, its management is quietly approaching
residents and others with a "special" $75 rate, elephant
safari and naturalist walks included. Even with the
incentives, lack of guests has caused that lodge and
most others in Chitwan Park to close prematurely for the
summer. All but core maintenance staff are on forced,
unpaid leave until whenever it becomes cost effective to
reopen in the fall.


11. A useful meeting took place with Chitwan District's
acting Chief District Officer (CDO) in Bharatpur, Kamal
Kanta Regmi. He offered to assist with any welfare and
whereabouts requests (we'd had one supposedly lost group
of American university students in that district the
previous week). Regmi also offered to take the
addresses of all Americans in Chitwan District and
"check-in" with them -- an offer we politely declined.
He stated that, although he cannot predict the future,
Maoist violence in Chitwan has thus far been directed
chiefly against individuals (as opposed to institutions
or government offices). [Note: Reftels detail recent
Maoist attacks on Coca-Cola's plant Chitwan.] In any
case, Mr. Regmi promised to provide all possible
assistance in any case involving American citizens.

12 Road travel on Nepal circuitous, narrow highways is
treacherous and grueling. Although we never covered
more than 200 kms on any day, every day's drive involved
a minimum of six hours. Along the way, we witnessed the
aftermath of 20 major head-on collisions, more often
than not between busses and large carriage trucks.
Throughout the routes taken, the GON is installing large
squares of rocks encased with thick wire mesh (similar
to the landslide protection blocks) on the cliffside of
the highway as barriers to prevent vehicles from going
over the edge. As we approached Kathmandu toward
nightfall on June 3, we witnessed numerous Westerners on
"night busses" headed toward Pokhara, despite explicit
warnings in Nepal's Consular Information Sheet.


13. Conclusion: This consular tour assisted the
Embassy's efforts to monitor the security situation on
the main highways utilized by Western travelers to Nepal
and to apprise Americans living and working in two major
remote locations of the present security situation. The
hundreds of Nepalis we encountered throughout the
journey welcomed us with the genuine warmth that
characterizes the people of this country, as we openly
spoke of ourselves as Americans and about America's
great friendship with Nepal. The experience gained
during this visit to remote areas reinforces the
Embassy's evaluation that, barring a change in Maoist
tactics, responsible travel on the main tourist routes
outside the Kathmandu Valley does not pose any undue
security risk from terrorism or criminal violence.

Malinowski