Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KATHMANDU1377
2003-07-23 01:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 15 - 21, 2003

Tags:  OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP 
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230135Z Jul 03
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001377 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 15 - 21, 2003


- STATE FOR NP, AC, PM
- STATE FOR IN/R/MR
- STATE FOR SA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO
- STATE FOR SA/PPD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001377

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 15 - 21, 2003


- STATE FOR NP, AC, PM
- STATE FOR IN/R/MR
- STATE FOR SA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO
- STATE FOR SA/PPD


1. PEACE TALKS

-- Maoists close Kathmandu contact office: The Maoists
have closed down the contact office in Kathmandu, open
from April 10. The government is shocked with the
Maoists' decision to close the Kathmandu contact
office, but it "thinks" such a move will not affect the
forthcoming peace talks, government talks-convener
Kamal Thapa told Nepalnews late Sunday evening.
(Nepalnews.com, 7/20)

-- Government pledges full security to Maoist leaders
once dialogue begins: The government today assured full
security of the Maoist negotiating team and promised
"safe passage" in the event of the peace talks failing.
The government assurance came shortly after the Maoists
declared that its negotiating leaders have gone
underground and that its contact office in Kathmandu
has been closed indefinitely. (Media reports, 7/21)

-- Security beefed up nation-wide: Security has been
beefed up in the capital and in the western region of
the country, following the Maoists' closure of their
office in the capital. According to security sources,
the security forces have assumed high alert after the
Maoists started attacks on some incumbent and retired
security personnel in recent days. (Major newspapers,
7/21)

-- EU ready to facilitate: The European Union (EU) is
ready to facilitate the ongoing peace process between
the government and the Maoists if both sides agree on
its involvement, said Rudiger Wenk, chief of the
delegation of the European Commission in Nepal.
(government-owned "Rising Nepal," E/D, 7/20)

-- Government, Maoists ready to confront: The Maoists
have gone underground and resumed abductions,
extortion". The government has begun arresting Maoists".
Both are preparing to confront". The RIM is formulating
for a deadly war in Nepal". The Maoists have imported a
large quantity of weapons. (centrist "Janasatta," V/W,
7/19)

-- Information Minister on peace talks: The government
is fully committed to honor and implement all the
decisions made jointly with the Maoists during the
previous rounds of talks, Information Minister and
government negotiator Kamal Thapa said. (Media reports,

7/19)

-- Maoists not to turn away from talks: The government-
Maoists peace talks got narrowly saved from the brink
of being broken off. Although the top level Maoist
leadership concluded that there had been no significant
achievements in the peace process until recently, it
has decided not to break off the ceasefire. (centrist
"Bimarsha, " V/W, 7/18)

-- Talks likely to be broken off: All the leaders of
the Maoist talks team are busy in the party's internal
affairs". The government has violated the code of
conducts". There is a strong possibility of the breaking
off of the talks. (Pro-Maoist "Jana Dharana," V/W,
7/17)

-- Uncertainty over talks spurs security beef-up: The
government has stepped up security throughout the
country owing to the Maoists' "suspicious activities" -
- increased movement, arms accumulation and forceful
extortion -- in the recent past. (pro-India "Himalayan
Times," E/D, 7/16)

-- Maoist spokesperson has no knowledge of government
letter for talks: Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur
Mahara expressed his ignorance about the government's
formal invitation for the third round of peace talks
with the Maoists. Mahara's comment on the government's
formal invitation comes a day after the Minister for
Informati
on and Communication, who is also one of the
government negotiating team members, sent a letter to
Dr. Bhattarai inviting him to sit down for formal talks
as soon as possible. (centrist "Kantipur," V/D, 7/15)

2. MAOIST ACTIVITIES
-- Armed Maoists attack police post: Some 50 armed-
Maoists Sunday evening attacked a police post of
Sugauli Customs Office in Parsa district, looting
around a dozen weapons. (Nepalnews.com, 7/21)

-- Maoists bring in weapons: The Police Headquarters
said that the Maoists had brought into the capital
about five dozens of sophisticated weapons through
various entry points of the Kathmandu Valley. The
police said the Maoists were using sand-delivering
rental trucks to transport the weapons. (centrist
"Spacetime Dainik," V/D, 7/20)
-- Maoists resort to abduction: The Maoists have
abducted people in at least nine districts, violating
the ceasefire code of conduct. ("The Rising Nepal,"
7/19)

-- Retired cop killed by Maoists for refusing donation:
Maoists on Wednesday night killed a retired policeman
at his home in Ilam district after he refused to donate
them the foodstuff and cash amount they had demanded.
(Major newspapers, 7/19)

-- Maoists' high command meeting begins: High command
meeting of the Maoists began in the remote village of
Thimori in the Surkhet-Jajarkot border area on
Thursday. All central committee members, except Dr.
Baburam Bhattarai and C.P. Gajurel, who are
participating in the RIM meeting in India, are present
in the meeting. The Maoist meeting is taking place
amidst tight security. Maoist militia is deployed
around 15 kilometers of Thimori and no one is allowed
to enter or leave the village. (centrist "Nepalipatra,"
V/W, 7/18)

-- Maoists kill UML cadre: A group of Maoists allegedly
thrashed to death a committee member of the CPN-UML of
Rupandehi district. The rebels severely beat him on
Thursday night while he was on his way home. (Media
reports, 7/16)

-- RIM slams U.S. military activities in West Asia: The
regional conference of the parties and organizations of
the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) has
denounced the "increasing military cooperation between
the U.S. and the reactionary regimes of the region in
the service of U.S. imperialist aggression and
occupation in West Asia and elsewhere." RIM is the
regional organization of different communist parties in
the region including the Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist). ("The Himalayan Times," 7/15)

-- Maoists bring in weapons: Security sources have
informed that the Maoists have imported weapons [from
India] through various points of Kailali district at a
time when they and the government are discussing the
third round of peace talks. ("Kantipur," 7/15)


3. POLITICAL AFFAIRS

-- King-Maoists plotting against democracy: Koirala:
Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala said
that the king and the Maoists were jointly plotting
against democracy. He claimed that the ongoing
movement had weakened the plot to some extent. He
asked the Maoists and the king to agree on some crucial
points for progressive reforms. Koirala also said that
the five agitating political parties would not give up
their stance for reactivating the present constitution.
(Leading dailies, 7/19)

-- Prime Minister toward fatal decision: As Prime
Minister Thapa failed to bring political parties into
the government, he is now moving toward restoring the
dissolved parliament, a step that would once again push
the country into darkness and prove lethal to Thapa
himself. (rightist "Hindu," V/W, 7/17)

-- Squabbling in UML over: The protracted central
committee meet of the UML ended Tuesday patching up the
differences between the factions led by general
secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and standing committee

SIPDIS
member K. P. Oli. (Media reports, 7/16)

4. NEPAL-U.S.

-- Foreign Secretary leaves for U.S.: Foreign Se
cretary
Madhu Raman Acharya left Kathmandu (7/18) for
Washington D.C. to hold talks with senior U.S.
officials on bilateral relations and matters of mutual
interest. Talking to reporters before his departure,
Acharya said that he would hold discussions on several
issues related to bilateral cooperation. "But the
proposed Nepal Trade Bill for duty and quota free
access to Nepali garments to the U.S. market will be on
top of our agenda," said Acharya, who is accompanied by
the president of Garments Association of Nepal.
Acharya also gave indication that he would also discuss
with the U.S. officials on Nepal's security situation
and Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees. Meanwhile, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in it's a press release,
has stated that the two sides would hold consultations
on broad areas like development assistance, bilateral
cooperation, Nepal's accession to WTO, and regional and
international issues. (centrist "Kathmandu Post," E/D,
and Kantipur, 7/19)
.

5. BUSINESS/ECONOMY

-- Nepal's WTO membership likely in September: Nepal's
accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) during
the Cancun ministerial meet in September is almost
certain, following a successful completion of a five-
day bilateral negotiations in Geneva on Friday. ("The
Kathmandu Post," 7/20)

-- New budget announced: Finance Minister Dr. Prakash
Chandra Lohani announced (7/17) a budget of 102.4
billion rupees (1.32 billion dollars) promulgated
through a royal ordinance in the absence of a sitting
parliament. He has reduced both security and royal
household expenditures nominally". Five agitating
parties Sunday (7/20) held the third "special session"
of the already-dissolved House of Representatives,
condemning the government budget for fiscal year
2003/04. (Media reports, 7/21)


6. BHUTANESE REFUGEES

-- Nepali citizenship forms for refugees: Bhutanese
government said the Joint Verification Team (JVT) would
start distributing applications for Nepali citizenship
to those who fell under category II in the Khudunabari
camp from the last week of August, a decision reached
in the 14th ministerial meeting. Nepal, however, is
confident that none of the refugees under category II
would apply for Nepali citizenship. ("The Himalayan
Times," 7/20)
-- Bhutanese assembly against refugee repatriation:
Defying international pressure, the Bhutanese National
Assembly adopted a defiance posture as most members
opposed return of the 100,00-plus Bhutanese living in
refugee camps in Nepal for more than a decade. ("The
Kathmandu Post" and "Kantipur," 7/20)

-- EU urges international community to resolve refugee
problem: Rudiger Wenk, chief of the delegation of the
European Commission in Nepal urged the international
community and Nepal to find a pragmatic and realistic
solution to the 13-year-old Bhutanese refugee problem.
(Compiled from major newspapers, 7/19)

-- UK expresses support for Bhutanese refugees: The
United Kingdom has sent a letter to Bhutanese exiled
leader Teknath Rizal in India, expressing support for
the refugees staying in the camps in eastern Nepal,
claimed the exiled human rights leader through a
telephonic interview with "The Kathmandu Post" from
India. ("The Kathmandu Post," 7/16)

-- Government to correct refugee verification report:
The government is in a mood to rectify the widely
criticized Bhutanese refugee verification report. The
international community, including the U.S., had
expressed severe disapproval over the report. (centrist
"Rajdhani," V/D, 7/15)


7. OTHERS

-- UML against peace troops to Iraq: CPN-UML General
Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said Sunday he and his

SIPDIS
party were against the government plan to send peace
troops to Iraq. (Media reports, 7/20)

-- Unsolved inundation problem creates havoc: The
inundation problem in four VDCs of Banke district,
caused by India's unilateral construction of the
Laxmanpur barrage and
its embankment, has remained
unresolved as officials of Nepal and India failed to
hold a crucial meeting to address it. (Feature article
in the "Kathmandu Post," 7/16)
-- Iraq safe working place: The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs has given green signal to the Ministry of Labor
and Transport Management for allowing Nepalis to go
Iraq for employment. The Labor Ministry had requested
the Foreign Ministry to decide whether Nepalis could be
sent to Iraq as the U.S. armed force continued to face
attacks. ("The Kathmandu Post" and "Kantipur," 7/15)

MALINOWSKI