Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02KATHMANDU2324
2002-12-06 11:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: MAOIST PROMISES GO UP IN SMOKE

Tags:  PTER PHUM CASC PGOV IN NP 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002324 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST
FINANCING
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN

E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PHUM CASC PGOV IN NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST PROMISES GO UP IN SMOKE

REF: (A) KATHMANDU 2302

(B) KATHMANDU 2316

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002324

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST
FINANCING
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN

E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PHUM CASC PGOV IN NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST PROMISES GO UP IN SMOKE

REF: (A) KATHMANDU 2302

(B) KATHMANDU 2316


1. (U) Summary: Mere days after Maoist leaders called for
peace talks with the Government of Nepal (GON) (ref A),
three separate incidents raised serious questions about
whether they would honor their promises to halt attacks on
party workers and infrastructure. Maoists killed a Nepali
Congress worker, vandalized the offices of an NGO, and
attacked hydropower equipment imported by the UK.
Systematic attacks on hydropower projects over the past year
have left thousands of Nepali homes and industries without
power. End summary.


2. A December 3 statement by Maoist leader Prachanda
claimed that in order to facilitate talks with the GON, the
Maoists would cease attacks on infrastructure and members of
other political parties (ref A). Though few analysts
accepted the statement at face value, several political
parties lauded it as a hopeful sign that the insurgents may
be willing to work for peace. Even those hopes were
battered the next day, when Maoists launched simultaneous
attacks on two southern police posts (ref B) and continued
their usual pattern of violence.


3. On Wednesday, December 4, a group of suspected Maoists
killed a Nepali Congress worker in southern Nawalparasi
district. According to press reports, a group of three
young men on bicycles shot the 60-year-old political worker
at point-blank range. Maoist insurgents had previously sent
him a warning letter. Also on Wednesday, Maoists vandalized
the offices of Backward Society Education (BASE),an NGO
campaigning for the liberation of bonded laborers in the mid-
and far-western Terai regions. According to an NGO
spokesperson, Maoists damaged 700,000 Nrs (9000 USD) worth
of property in the attack.


4. On Thursday, December 5, Maoists attacked two trucks
carrying hydropower generation equipment imported by a UK
development firm. The trucks were bound for Jhankre mini
hydropower plant and would have helped provide power to
11,000 rural households. The trucks and equipment, valued
at 25 million Nrs (200,000 USD) were completely destroyed in
the attack. The Jhankre hydro plant had been completely
destroyed by the Maoists on October 8, in an attack that
also damaged a hydropower plant at Khimti. Total damage
from the October attack is estimated at 7-10 million USD.


5. The Norwegian government has pledged significant
financial support for the development and rehabilitation of
major hydroelectric power plants, and the reaction of
Norway's Ambassador to Nepal to the attacks was stern. "The
rebel attack on the trucks and the generation equipment
makes no sense in light of Prachanda's statement that the
Maoists would cease attacks on basic infrastructures that
benefit the poor," she said, also lamenting the effect that
the attack was liable to have to possible development.
Despite previous expectations that the Khimti-I power plant
would entice more foreign investment in the hydropower
sector, she was clear that "Norwegian private investors will
not be interested unless there is peace."


6. Systematic Maoist attacks on hydropower infrastructure
have left thousands of rural homes without power and have
crippled industry in towns that rely on those facilities for
electricity. Power to the Mid- and Far-Western regions has
been compromised since the insurgents destroyed a 132 KV
transmission line on the national power grid, forcing 14
districts to resort to load-shedding during peak hours.
Industrial towns in Kailali and Baridya have been without
power for seven months, since the insurgents destroyed a
power sub-station serving the western districts.


7. Witnesses have quoted the Maoist attackers calling their
attacks on hydropower facilities "symbolic strikes against
the government." Nepal Electricity Authority is not
collecting data on the total cost of Maoist destruction, but
recently released estimates of damage from two attacks in
April demonstrate that the effects of the attacks are far
from symbolic for rural families. Damage of the 12-
megawatt Jhimruk Power Plant in Pyuthan is estimated at 240
million Nrs (3 million USD). Approximately 4,000 local
households will be without power until repair of the plant
can be completed in an estimated 15 months. The 5.1-
megawatt Andhikhola Project in central Syangja suffered 18
million Nrs (231,000 USD) worth of damage, forcing 25,000
residents of Syangja, Palpa and Gulmi districts to live in
the dark for one month. Industries came to a standstill
after the plant was destroyed, according to locals, and many
small-scale factories were forced to lay off employees.

MALINOWSKI