American Climbers Fired Upon Near Tibetan

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001872

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

CA/OCS/ACS/NESA AND SA/INS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC PTER PGOV ASEC NP
SUBJECT: American Climbers Fired Upon Near Tibetan
Border


1. (SBU) Summary. Two men wearing what appeared to
be military uniforms and carrying automatic weapons
fired a series of five shots at American climbers
David Morton and Jeff Lamoureux in the Upper Solu
Khumbu region near Nepal's border with Tibet, Morton
reported to Post via e-mail. The incident occurred
as the Americans were acclimatizing in preparation
for attempts to record first summits of Nepal's newly
opened peak Nanpai Gosum. One of the assailants
reportedly identfied himself as "Chinese military".
While neither American was injured, their latest e-
mail communication states they have abandoned their
summit plans and are being accompanied by Nepali
police officers to retrieve equipment and personal
effects they abandoned during the attack at their
base camp. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On October 24, the Consular Section
received a telefax from Seattle-based Alpine Ascents
International attaching an e-mail addressed to the
Embassy from David Morton which described the
shooting incident. [Note: Writing from Namche
Bazaar, the central trading village in the Mount
Everest region of Nepal, Morton had tried to send the
message directly to Post, but stated it "bounced
back"]. Morton, a mountain guide, and his climbing
partner Jeffrey Lamoureux had filed AmCit
registrations with the Embassy before embarking on an
attempt to record first-ascents of Nanpai Gosum, a
24,000 ft. peak newly opened for climbing by the
Nepali Government last December. Nanpai Gosum's
three summits lie west of Mount Everest, adjacent to
the 8,000M Cho Oyo Peak only a few kilometers from
the Nepal-Tibet border.


3. (SBU) Morton's initial e-mail reporting the
shooting states that on September 16, as part of the
altitude acclimatization process in preparation for a
summit bid, he and Lamoureux left their base camp
headed "up towards" Nangpa La Pass, a nearly 19,000
ft. pass on the Nepal/Tibetan Chinese border. [Note:
Nangpa La is both a trade route and a crossing point
for Tibetan refugees attempting to gain entry into
Nepal and/or India.] On the way to the pass, a man
armed with an automatic weapon approached them. The
man appeared to be of Han Chinese ethnicity, showed
them what he claimed was his Chinese military uniform
under his black jacket and said he was a member of
the Chinese military.


4. (SBU) The man, described by Morton as "extremely
nervous," asked where Morton and Lamoureux were
coming from, if there were others behind them, where
their base camp was located, etc. There is no
indication that he asked the climbers' nationalities
or for money. During a "very uncomfortable"
encounter Morton and Lamoureux gave him food and
water. He spoke very little English and when Morton
attempted to communicate in Nepali, he indicated that
he didn't speak that language. After taking the
food, the man headed down the trail and Morton and
Lamoureux continued upward. However, 20 minutes
later, they spotted the man watching them from above,
seated on a glacial moraine.


5. (SBU) After continuing up for another hour, they
spotted another man, wearing the same type of ski hat
as the first man they encountered, who ducked behind
a rock 200 yards up the trail from them.
Apprehending danger, they decided to go down. On the
descent, they had another "awkward" encounter with
the first interlocutor, to whom they again gave food
and water. Ten minutes after he abruptly said "bye,"
they heard the first shot.


6. (SBU) At first Morton attempted to dismiss the
shot, thinking the men were simply "messing around or
something." However, two or three minutes after the
first shot, Mr. Morton relates "there was a shot
which came at us and just missed us - we heard the
bullet go right past our ears." The two Americans
began running, ditched their packs so they could move
faster and stopped on occasion behind rocks to catch
their breaths "because it was so difficult (16,000
ft.)." The two men continued their pursuit and fired
a total of five shots during the chase. Morton hid
his money under a rock, and the two Americans
eventually found a hiding place amidst the rocks
where they remained for three or four hours.


7. (SBU) When they felt safe enough to move Morton
and Lamoureux returned to their base camp and, after
discussing what had occurred with their Nepali cook
and their porter, decided to descend down toward
Namche Bazaar as soon as it got dark. They left base
camp at 8 p.m. and reached Thame at 5 a.m., arriving
safely in Namche Bazaar the next day.


8. (SBU) ConOff spoke with the Americans' local
trekking agent who had received a second e-mail from
Morton stating he and Lamoureux had met with the
military and police in Namche Bazaar and would be
returning to collect their supplies at base camp in
the company of two Nepali police officers. Embassy
has sent an e-mail to Morton advising of our concern
and asking him to contact Consul directly upon his
return to Namche Bazaar. PolOff advised the MFA
concerning the shootings within Nepal's borders
during a meeting on September 24. The MFA was
unaware of the incident.


9. (SBU) Comment: Morton's e-mail indicates his
uncertainty about the identity of the armed men who
fired upon him and Lamoureux. "[A]t first we thought
perhaps Maoists but this guy was clearly Chinese and
claimed to not speak Nepali," Morton wrote, adding:
"[O]ur sirdhar and his Sherpa helper from that valley
think that they were Chinese police." He also
speculated that they could be Chinese bandits.
Maoist insurgents are not typically found at such
elevations (16,000 ft.). In the incidents where
trekkers have reported encountering purported
Maoists, the Maoists ususally ask for money. From
the details of the terrain given in Morton's report,
it seems clear that, whatever the identity of the
gunmen, the incident occurred on the Nepal side of
Nangpa La Pass.

Hale