NEPAL: HEAD OF ARMED POLICE FORCE ASSASSINATED IN

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000140 SIPDIS STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/SA STATE ALSO PASS USAID -DCHA/OFDA MANILA FOR USAID - DCHA/OFDA LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL - DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL - DLAUFMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: HEAD OF ARMED POLICE FORCE ASSASSINATED IN KATHMANDU REF: 02 KATHMANDU 2169 ¶1. At approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on January 26, two masked gunmen shot and killed Mohan Krishna Shrestha, Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the Armed Police Force (APF),as he was taking a morning walk near his residence. Also killed were Shrestha's wife and bodyguard. Residents in the neighborhood reported hearing about 10 shots fired. The assailants fled without being apprehended, and no arrests have yet been made. ¶2. The APF is a paramilitary police force formed nearly two years ago primarily to help Nepal's beleaguered civil police counter the Maoist insurgency. Since their deployment against the Maoists, 109 APF, including Shrestha, have been killed. Although no one has yet claimed responsibility for the killings, the modus operandi mirrors several similar slayings in the Kathmandu Valley--including those of two Embassy security guards--which the Maoists have acknowledged committing. ¶3. Comment: Although the Maoists have killed 884 civilians and 1,313 members of the security forces in nearly seven years of the insurgency, Shrestha is the first figure of national prominence to die in the conflict. The Maoists have staged no major assaults since their November 15 attack on the district headquarters in Jumla (Reftel). Some observers had optimistically interpreted their relative quiescence as a sign that the insurgents were serious about pursuing dialogue with the government. This brutal assassination obviously belies such hopes. Shrestha's wife was a teaching assistant at Lincoln International School, which most Mission dependent children attend. The school has announced a one-day closure for January 27 in commemoration of Mrs. Shrestha. MALINOWSKI