TFIZ01: NEPAL REACTIONS TO WAR IN IRAQ FOR MARCH

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000551

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/SA
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC CASC KPAO NP PREL
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: NEPAL REACTIONS TO WAR IN IRAQ FOR MARCH
27

REF: KATHMANDU 0545


1. PROTESTS AND MISSION SECURITY: The Embassy maintained
full services and normal working hours on March 27. As of
3:00 p.m. local time, Embassy knows of no protests in the
capital against the war in Iraq or against the U.S. A small
anti-war protest in downtown Kathmandu on March 26 apparently
fizzled out because of inclement weather conditions and did
not reach the Embassy. The Nepali-language press reported on
March 27 that a student group in midwestern Pyuthan District
(approximately 300 km from Kathmandu) had held a protest
rally on March 26. According to reports, the students burned
an effigy of President Bush and chanted anti-American slogans.


2. MEDIA OPINION: Major newspapers carried wire service
reports of the fighting in Iraq, with the 14 casualties in a
Baghdad marketplace claiming most headlines. For the second
consecutive day, pro-Indian daily "The Himalayan" carried
anti-war editorials republished from the "The Guardian" in
London. "The Kathmandu Post," the leading English daily,
printed a local editorial entitled "Economic Implications of
War," which predicted a downturn in tourism, posited (without
any supporting evidence) that "the export sector has been
badly affected," and (spuriously) linked the Gulf conflict to
hikes in local petroleum prices.


3. PRO-US SUPPORT: On March 27 the Ambassador received a
letter from a local Nepali businessman expressing "special
thanks to the US Government for taking a hard step against
Iraq to make stability and peace in the Middle East and all
over the world."

MALINOWSKI