UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002188

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: NP PGOV PTER PHUM IN PREL
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST SPOKESMAN PUSHES PARTY LINE ON CNN

REF: A. KATHMANDU 2152


B. KATHMANDU 450

C. KATHMANDU 2169

D. KATHMANDU 2124

E. KATHMANDU 2171


1. Summary: Krishna Bahadur Mahara, one of the top leaders
of Nepal's Maoist insurgency, granted an interview to CNN on
November 14. Mahara, speaking in an open setting with no
apparent fear of capture, unabashedly used the opportunity to
spread misinformation and propaganda on the international
stage. The interview, almost certainly to have taken place in
India, reinforces Government of Nepal (GON) suspicions that
India is unwilling--rather than unable--to cooperate in
handing over the principal leaders of the insurgency. End
summary.

MAHARA SAYS MAOISTS NOT TERRORISTS;
CLAIMS NO KILLING OF INNOCENTS
--------------


2. Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who carries a
$65,000 price on his head and is subject to an INTERPOL
warrant, was the chief negotiator in last year's failed peace
talks between the Maoists and the GON. Mahara met with CNN
New Delhi's Satinder Bindra in an undisclosed location on
November 14. Mahara is a senior politburo member of the
outlawed Maoist party, and considered to be one of the top
leaders of the movement.


3. Calling GON accusations of terrorism "baseless
allegations," Mahara denied the use of child soldiers and the
killing of civilians. "We condemn all types of terrorism,"
he claimed. "We are a political force... we are not
terrorists and that is clear." Mahara also stated that the
Maoists have no children in their fighting force. "We do not
admit anyone below 18 in our army," he said. "We have the
support of the children as well as the elderly. But they are
not a part of our army." Blaming the government for civilian
deaths that have been attributed to the insurgency, Mahara
said that allegations of Maoists killing innocents are false.
"We have only killed the criminal elements of our society and
that too after issuing them several warnings," he added.


4. The blatant mendacity of Mahara's statements was apparent
from the clip which immediately preceded interview's
broadcast, and is further illustrated by recent news report

s.
His assertions that the Maoists execute criminal elements
rather than indiscriminately killing civilians directly
followed a clip of Thursday's incident in which 2 civilians
were killed and 25 injured when their passenger bus was
blasted by a Maoist landmine. The day before the interview, a
mentally disabled 12-year-old and a 14-year-old on his way to
school were killed by two separate Maoist bombs (ref A). Not
a day goes by without further reports of Maoist brutality--of
farmers hacked to death, postal workers beheaded and
vegetable sellers blown up by Maoist bombs. Mahara's claim
that the Maoists do not employ child soldiers bears equally
little resemblance to reality. In March, Ambassador
Malinowski met with child recruits in the southwestern city
of Nepalgunj who were forced to join the "people's army," to
take weapons training and to fight due to fear rather than
ideology (ref B). Other Embassy officers also have
personally interviewed Maoist child recruits.


5. Mahara's interview was broadcast against the backdrop of
coordinated Maoist attacks in Jumla and Gorkha districts, in
which 60 police and soldiers were killed (ref C). "We want
peace," Mahara stated in his interview. "It is the ruling
class that is committing injustice on the people; all we are
doing is resisting." Yet reports from Jumla indicate that
villagers were used as human shields by the Maoists, and may
have been killed in the crossfire; that Maoists shot and
killed a prison guard after breaking into the district jail
and freeing the inmates; and that they looted 3.8 million
rupees (50,000 USD) in cash and valuables from the local
bank. The interview came five days after a Maoist hit squad
killed Embassy contract security supervisor Deepak Pokhrel
(ref D); and two days before the Maoists claimed credit for
this killing and also for a previous killing of an Embassy
direct hire guard (ref E).


6. Full text of Mahara's interview with CNN is available
online at
asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asaipcf/south/11/14/n epal.leader.iv.

INDIA SUSPECTED AS LOCATION OF INTERVIEW
--------------


7. Though CNN coverage gave no indication of Mahara's
whereabouts, the interview was filmed in a calm garden
setting, in fairly opulent surroundings: Mahara was seated on
the floor in a well-appointed room with expensive furnishings
and electronic equipment. Most Nepalis believe that the
Maoist leader is hiding in India, and local watchers, closely
examining the scene for evidence of the leader's location,
have cited evidence as tenuous as a view of a particular type
of tree that "only grows in southern India," as proof that
Mahara is located south of the border. There is speculation
that the interview was conducted in Bangalore.

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


8. Senior Nepali officials have been charging for years that
their efforts at bringing the Maoists under control have been
compromised by the fact that the principal leaders of the
insurgency can find safety and support in India. While the
GON admits that India has been helpful in handing over a few
Maoists who have fled across the border, the returnees have
all been low-level members of the insurgency and not the "big
fish." There is a persistent belief that the GOI wil not go
after the chief offenders because of a desire to maintain
leverage over the Nepalis. This brazen public appearance by
a leader as highy placed as Mahara would seem to support this
view.
MALINOWSKI