Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KATHMANDU1414
2003-07-29 03:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 22 - 28, 2003

Tags:  OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP 
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290359Z Jul 03
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001414 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 22 - 28, 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 001414

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 22 - 28, 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

-- Minister denies government agreed to restrict army:
Finance Minister Dr. Parakeet Chandler Lorain said
(7/27) the previous talk team of the government had not
committed to restrict the army within five kilometers
of the barracks and that the best thing was to sit down
for talks rather than communicating through letters.
(centrist "Kantipur," V/D, 7/28)

-- Maoists send response letter to government: The
Maoists have sent a response letter to the government
with five conditions and a five-day ultimatum. The
conditions include the compliance by the army with all
agreed-upon decisions so far. The so-called five-year
antiterrorism treaty with the U.S. should be annulled
and all the U.S. military advisors and experts should
be expelled from the county. The political agenda
proposed by the former government should be publicized.
(independent "Nepal Samacharpatra," V/D, 7/28)

-- Government proposes third round talks by mid-August:
The government dispatched (7/25) a 14-point letter to
the Maoists with a proposal to hold the third round of
formal talks by mid-August. (government media, 7/26)

-- U.S. is here for business, nothing else: U.S.
Embassy spokesperson: Amid allegations of excessive
interest and intervention in the internal matters of
the country, the United States has said she wants peace
in Nepal so that the nation can attract more U.S.
investment. "All we have been saying is that we want
peace so that we can urge American businesses to invest
in Nepal," director of American Center, Constance
Colding Jones told "The Himalayan Times." She said
America wants the Maoists to behave "like a regular
political party" and stop indulging in killings,
kidnappings, extortions and threats. "Our only concern
is that we do not want to have yet another hotspot in
this area," said Jones. "We also have to protect our
own interests here in Nepal," she said referring to the
investment of over US$ 700 million through the USAID
over the past 50 years. Jones dismissed the Maoists'
allegation that the U.S. is intervening too much in
Nepal, saying the joint military exercises by the

armies of the two countries have nothing to do with the
rise of Maoists' rebellion and is a part of the
"regular trainings that have been going on for over 10
years". (pro-India "Himalayan Times," E/D, 7/27)

-- Government establishes "contacts" with Maoists:
Amidst apprehensions that the Maoists may call off the
six-month long truce and resort to violence again, the
government today made "informal" contacts with them.
"We have had an informal contact with them," a
government source told "The Kathmandu Post." "We have
received a positive message from the Maoists that they
will respond to our last week's letter within two to
three days." (Major newspapers, 7/22)

-- Five democracies urge Maoists to end "extortions":
The Industrial Security Group (ISG),a consortium of
five major democracies including USA, UK, France,
Germany and India, has asked the Maoists to give up
"criminal extortions" and sincerely pursue the peace
process. It was on the statement issued here today
(7/21) by the British Embassy, on behalf of the ISG.
(centrist "Kathmandu Post," E/D, and "The Himalayan
Times," 7/22)

-- Government must express its regrets: Maoists: The
Maoists informed that they would open both the contact
off
ice and the office of its student wing, provided the
government regretted the arrest of Bharat Dhungana,
secretary at the Maoists contact office. The general

SIPDIS
secretary of the Maoists' student wing said that the

SIPDIS
Maoists would immediately open their office and they
would even reply to the letter sent by the government
if the latter "repented" in public. ("Kantipur," 7/23)

-- Government assures full security to Maoists: Urging
Maoists to reopen the Kathmandu contact office,
Information Minister and talks-convener Kamal Thapa
said Tuesday government will provide full security to
Maoist negotiators and is committed to peace talks.
(Major Newspapers, 7/23)

-- Maoists send "tough" letter to govt.: The Maoists,
in their letter, have demanded immediate implementation
of the decisions reached during the second round of
peace talks. They have stated, "if the government does
not do so, we will suppose the government has
unilaterally broken the ceasefire and left the peace
process." In particular, the letter demanded to limit
army within five kilometers periphery of the barrack.
This was one of the agreements reached between the
Lokendra Bahadur Chand government and the Maoists. On
the King's role, the letter said the talks are getting
momentum due to the King, who is "playing foul from
behind the curtains". "The King should, either get
involved in the peace talks directly, or stop playing
foul by granting formal authority to the government to
hold talks," said the letter. (Major newspapers, 7/24)


2. MAOIST ACTIVITIES

-- U.S. refutes Maoists' allegations: The U.S. embassy
has refuted recent allegations made by the Maoists that
there were linkages between the Royal Nepal Army and
the U.S. Army. "There is no existence of American
military personnel in Nepal. Only two army liaison
officers are in the American embassy here," said
Constance Jones, the director of the American Center,
Kathmandu. Jones stressed on talks to find a peaceful
solution of the present problem. She reiterated that
there would be no change in American policy if the
Maoists continue with their extortion, murders and
kidnappings. (government-owned "Rising Nepal," E/D,
7/26)

-- Home Ministry, Maoists deny attacks: In two separate
statements, Home Ministry and Maoists have denied
reports of attacks on Sugauli Customs Police Post.
Various published reports said Monday armed-Maoists
attacked the police post looting half a dozen weapons.
(Media reports, 7/22)

-- Maoist cadres want revival of peace process: Hardly
a day had expired after the Maoists closed down their
contact office in Kathmandu and announced that its
leaders were going underground due to security
concerns, many rank and file Maoist cadres held corner
meetings in various districts arguing for the need to
continue the peace process. ("The Kathmandu Post,"
7/22)

-- Maoists loot solar panels: A large group of armed
Maoists looted two solar panels connected to the
repeater tower of the Nepal Telecommunication
Corporation (NTC) in Kapilvastu district this morning,
confirmed a guard stationed at the tower. ("Kantipur,"
7/24)

3. NEPAL-U.S.

-- Garment bill gets U.S. green signal: Following the
Foreign Secretary Madhu Raman Acharya's week-long visit
to Washington, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has agreed
to move ahead with the bill favoring Nepali garments in
the U.S. market. However, her spokesman, Scott Gerber,
stressed that the senator will stand firm on moving
ahead with the bill only on the condition that
incidents like the May deportation "don't happen
again." Nepalese-made garments are currently subjected
to an average tariff rate of 18 percent in the U.S.,
which absorbs up to 80 per cent of the garments
manufactured in Nepal. The enactment of the bill would
pave the way for duty and quota free access for a two-
year period. (Compiled from major dailies, 7/27)

-- Nepali team requests U.S. to pass bill on garments:

A Nepali delegation led by Madhu Raman Acharya,
secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met E.

SIPDIS
Ashley Wills, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative and
Cecilia Leahy Kleln, Director, WTO Accession and
requested them to pass the bill on Nepali garments at
the U.S. Senate soon. The bill was withdrawn from the
Senate last month on the grounds of Nepal's deportation
of 18 Tibetans to China. ("The Kathmandu Post" & "The
Himalayan Times," 7/24)

4. BHUTANESE REFUGEES

-- India disagrees U.S.'s assertion: India has
disagreed the U.S.'s remarks that India's role was
compulsory for the resolution of the Bhutanese refugee
crisis. Indian Embassy First Secretary Sanjay Verma
said "bi-lateral talks is the appropriate
medium"..."since the affairs is between the two countries
[Nepal and Bhutan]. (centrist "Rajdhani," V/D, 7/27)

-- Bhutan in "no mood" to take back refugees: Hiram A.
Ruiz, the Director of Communications of the U.S.
Committee for Refugees (USCR) pointed out that in light
of the "obstinate position" of the Druk government on
the issue of taking back the refugees, the
international community had the responsibility to
resettle the refugees in the third world countries.
Speaking to "The Kathmandu Post" after his three-day
visit to the four refugee camps in eastern Nepal, Ruiz
said, "Given the obstinate position of the Bhutanese
government, the repatriation of the refugees at this
point seems impossible." He added that it was highly
likely that Bhutan would make it impossible for the
refugees to return to their homeland. ("The Kathmandu
Post," 7/27)

-- Editorial on USCR Director's remarks: The USCR
Director's remarks, in fact, reinforced the views held
by many that Bhutan is not playing a fair game. The
Khudunabari verification showed that the majority of
the refugees (about 76 percent) are genuine Bhutanese
but Bhutan has found one reason or another to refuse
then their right to return home. Indeed, over 70
percent of the verified refugees are Bhutanese who
sought refuge "voluntarily". The USCR Director's plea
to involve India in repatriating the refugees to their
homeland needs to be taken seriously by New Delhi. In
fact, unless the parties involved along with countries
and agencies concerned such as UNHCR are able to reach
an agreement satisfactory to the refugees, the
situation is bound to become murkier. (Editorial in the
"Kathmandu Post," 7/28)

-- Druk regime on "ethnic cleansing" drive?: At a time
when the Bhutanese refugee issue has raked up an
international storm, a new controversy has come to the
fore with the Druk government issuing an order to
demolish all the Nepali style houses in Southern Bhutan
and replace them with Buddhist style houses.
("Kantipur," 7/27)

-- U.S. government to be briefed on Bhutanese refugees:
Two senior officials of U.S. Refugee Committee will
soon visit Bhutanese refugee camps and will brief the
U.S. government on the real situation of Bhutanese
refugees. ("Kantipur," 7/22)
-- Refugee categorization: A Nepali, Bhutani joint
verification team is expected to complete its work on
appeals of a controversial categorization of Bhutanese
refugees for repatriation by July 31, Foreign Ministry
Spokesman Dr. Madan Bhattarai said. (centrist
"Annapurna Post," V/D, 7/24)

-- U.S. member visits camp: Senior member of the U.S.
Refugee Committee Hiram Ruij visited the Bhutanese
refugee camps. Sources claimed the U.S. visitor had a
meeting with donor agencies involved in the upkeep of
refugees. ("Kantipur," 724)


5. OTHERS

-- Din of protests against India's "unilateral act":
Over 100 people, representing various social and
student organizations, staged protest in the capital
today condemning India's unilateral construction of
Mahalisagar Bund and encroachment of Nepali land on the
international border. ("The Kathmandu Post," 7/26)

MALINOWSKI