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