NEPAL: PUBLIC OBSERVED FIRST DAY OF GENERAL

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001835 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/SA ISLAMABAD FOR AMBASSADOR POWELL LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY NSC FOR MILLARD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ECON ASEC NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: PUBLIC OBSERVED FIRST DAY OF GENERAL STRIKE, THREE MAOIST BOMBS PLANTED TO ENFORCE IT ¶1. (SBU) On September 18, the first day of a Maoist-imposed three day general strike, Embassy police contacts reported that 95 percent of businesses in Kathmandu Valley were closed. Traffic was limited to police and army vehicles, diplomatic vehicles, and ambulances, with most people opting to walk or ride bicycles. Police and media sources also report that outside Kathmandu Valley 90 percent of shops, factories, and educational institutions are closed. A handful of markets located in district headquarters around the country maintained limited hours today. ¶2. (SBU) Police sources also report that the Maoists planted bombs in three locations around the country today. A bomb exploded in a taxation office in Biratnagar, on the Indian border south of Kathmandu, at 5:25 this morning. No one was injured in the attack. A second bomb was detonated in Kavre district, immediately east of Kathmandu, with no reports of injures. A third bomb planted near Kathmandu University in Kavre was successfully defused by army personnel. In the district of Kaski, just south of the Annapurna massif, Maoist cadres burnt an ambulance just before noon. The police could provide no additional details on the incident. MALINOWSKI