Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KATHMANDU1638
2003-08-27 10:18:00
SECRET
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: INDIAN AMBASSADOR ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES IN

Tags:  PTER PREL 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.
S E C R E T KATHMANDU 001638 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY
NSC FOR MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2013
TAGS: PTER PREL IN NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: INDIAN AMBASSADOR ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES IN
INDIA

REF: A. KATHMANDU 1611


B. KATHMANDU 1612

Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI. REASON: 1.5 (B,D).

S E C R E T KATHMANDU 001638

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY
NSC FOR MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2013
TAGS: PTER PREL IN NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: INDIAN AMBASSADOR ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES IN
INDIA

REF: A. KATHMANDU 1611


B. KATHMANDU 1612

Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI. REASON: 1.5 (B,D).


1. (S) Summary: The August 20 arrest in Chennai of Maoist
Politburo member Chandra Gajurel is the most significant
capture of a member of the insurgents' leadership in more
than seven years of conflict. While the reasons for
Gajurel's intended travel to the UK remain unclear, his
arrest could be an important example of the international
cooperation, support and resolve needed to help the
Government of Nepal (GON) counter the insurgency.


2. (S) In an August 26 conversation with the Ambassador,
Shyam Saran, Indian Ambassador to Nepal, said that Chandra
Gajurel, the Maoist arrested in Chennai on August 20 (Ref B),
is the highest-ranking Central Committee member (said to be
ranked fourth in the Politburo) arrested yet in either Nepal
or India. Saran said that Gajurel was responsible for
maintaining liaison with and extorting money from expatriate
Nepalis to finance insurgent activities. (Note: Gajurel was
arrested at Chennai's airport reportedly carrying a
fraudulent British passport.) Although initial stories in
the press reported that he was en route to Frankfurt, Saran
indicated that the Maoist was actually headed to the UK.
(Relatives of many high-ranking Maoists are known to be
currently in the UK. A Nepali press contact told us of
recent reports that the brother of insurgent supremo
Prachanda is now in the UK.)


3. (S) According to Saran, Nepalis living in India have
frequently complained of Maoist extortion in their
neighborhoods and communities. If they refuse the demands for
payment, the Maoists threaten them with violence. The August
25 murders of two Nepalis in the Mayapuri section of New
Delhi could be related to such extortion, he suggested. At
the same time, three separate local Maoist commanders in
Nepal have reportedly absconded to India with funds embezzled
from extortion. Saran opined that this could be indicative
of command and control problems among the Maoists. He
speculated that Gajurel might have been intending to travel
to the UK to launder money.


4. (S) The Ambassador congratulated Saran for the Indian
Embassy's tough reaction to Prachanda's request that the
Indian government release Gajurel as a show of good will.
Saran replied that the August 25 kidnapping of three Indian
employees--unprecedented in the seven years of the
insurgency--at the paper mill torched by the Maoists on
August 25 (ref A) could be a Maoist reaction to Gajurel's
arrest.


5. (C) In an August 27 meeting with the Ambassador,
Shailendra Upadhaya, one of four facilitators in peace talks
between the Government of Nepal and the Maoists and a
long-time Embassy contact, reiterated that the arrest of
Gajurel marks a significant setback for the Maoists. He
speculated that Gajurel may have been attempting to travel to
the UK in order to meet secretly with King Gyanendra, who is
currently visiting the UK for a medical check-up, for
off-line "negotiations." The Maoists frequently have
expressed a desire to meet the King, he noted. The Indians
might have learned of such a plan, he theorized, and moved
quickly to quash it. (Comment: We have received no
indications from any other source of any intention by the
King or anyone in his entourage in London to meet Gajurel or
any other Maoist representative. End comment.)


6. (S) Comment: We have long held that the key to
resolving the insurgency is firm, concerted international
pressure on the Maoist leadership, especially from India.
Gajurel's capture, which breaks an important link in the
Maoists' logistical organization, suggests that such pressure
may be growing.
MALINOWSKI