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