NEPAL: MAOISTS CONTINUE TO ROB FOREIGN TREKKERS

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 002070

SIPDIS

CA/OCS/ACS/NESA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CASC PTER ASEC NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOISTS CONTINUE TO ROB FOREIGN TREKKERS
AND CLIMBERS



1. SUMMARY: In late September Maoist rebels attempted to
extort money from a group of foreign climbers in far
northeastern Nepal, forcing them to fly back to Kathmandu.
This incident reflects no departure from a longstanding
pattern of occasional robbery by Maoists of foreign
trekkers and climbers in some remote parts of Nepal, but it
has received extensive and generally sensationalized
coverage by the international media. No Americans were
involved in the incident, and no climbers were kidnapped or
injured. End summary.


2. A group of climbers, including a well-known British
mountaineer and his French wife and ten Slovenians, was
stopped by four Maoists in late September as they climbed
toward a base camp north of Taplejung in far northeastern
Nepal. The Maoists reportedly demanded several thousand
dollars from the group, but the climbers were able to
persuade them that they had no money and were allowed to
proceed unharmed. Reports of the amount requested have
varied from USD 7,000 to approximately USD 4,000 (25,000
Nepali rupees) per person. After completing their intended
climb and beginning their return trek to Taplejung, the
climbers decided to request a helicopter rescue rather than
encounter new extortionate demands on the way down.
Several of the climbers returned to Kathmandu on Tuesday,
October 29, with the rest scheduled to return on Wednesday,
October 30. While waiting for the helicopter, one member of
the team phoned his relatives via satellite phone to relate
details of the encounter. The British team leader
reportedly spoke to the BBC, sparking a flurry of media
attention to the month-old incident.


3. British Consul Jon Chick told PolOff that his office does
not view the occurrence as a change in the Maoists' modus
operandi. Referring to the described events as "the typical
story," Chick reported that other groups of trekkers and
climbers have been stopped in the area by suspected Maoists,
but handled the situation by bargaining with the bandits to
pay reduced levels of "taxes."


4. Post has received sporadic reports of trekkers and
climbers encountering similar situations, including an
incident involving an American climber on Makalu, reported
by e-mail in April. These other trekkers have reported
similarly extravagant initial demands by the Maoists, but
most have eventually handed over cameras, other equipment or
sums of money averaging about USD 100 per person. No
trekkers have been harmed in the encounters.


5. Media coverage of the Taplejung incident has been
extensive and generally sensationalistic, describing the
event as an "ambush," and indicating that the climbers were
held as "hostages" "at gunpoint." None of the non-media
sources contacted by post have supported this dramatic
characterization of the event. British consul Chick
suggested that the source of the sensational phrasing may
have been the satellite phone call from one of the Slovenian
members of the group, who he said "was very emotive when
speaking with his relatives back home." Elizabeth Hawley, a
mountaineering expert and long-term resident of Nepal,
suggested that initial confusion by the news agencies
regarding the basic facts of the case may have distorted the
published articles. According to Hawley, when Reuters
originally contacted her for comment, the news service was
planning to run a story stating that the climbers had been
kidnapped.

COMMENT
--------------


6. Post does not believe that this incident marks any
deviation from previous tactics employed by Maoists seeking
to extort money from climbers and trekkers. Despite
exaggerated media coverage, the incident does not differ
fundamentally from similar prior occurrences and does not
appear to indicate any increased risk of injury to Americans
in Nepal. However, the incident does underscore the
Maoists' increasing tendency toward banditry rather than
political struggle and highlights the risks that trekkers
and tourists continue to run when traveling in some remote
areas of Nepal. Post is submitting language for an updated
public announcement to better reflect this situation.

MALINOWSKI