NEPAL: GOVERNMENT HOLDS SECOND ROUND OF DIALOGUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000860

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2013
TAGS: PTER PGOV NP GON
SUBJECT: NEPAL: GOVERNMENT HOLDS SECOND ROUND OF DIALOGUE
WITH MAOIST INSURGENTS

REF: KATHMANDU 0837

Classified By: DCM ROBERT K. BOGGS. REASON: 1.5 (B,D).


1. (U) On May 9 Government of Nepal (GON) negotiators held a
second round of talks with Maoist insurgents at a hotel in
Kathmandu (located less than one km from the Embassy). The
talks concluded more quickly than the first round, held April
27, ending after only two and a half hours. As of 4:00 P.M.
local time May 9, neither the GON nor the Maoists had
announced to the press the results of this latest round. No
date for a subsequent round of talks has yet been announced.



2. (C) Police sources said that this latest round produced
three significant agreements. First, the GON reportedly
agreed that soldiers from the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) would
patrol no farther than five km outside their barracks.
Second, the GON committed to releasing three Maoist Central
Committee Member detainees, and to providing information on
the whereabouts of another 320 Maoist detainees. Third, both
sides agreed to the establishment of a 13-member committee to
monitor compliance with the ceasefire code of conduct.


3. (C) A partial list of the members of the monitoring
committee provided by police sources includes six names of
individuals (four of them openly sympathetic to the Maoists),
with the remaining seven unnamed members designated by
membership in other organizations (i.e., a member of the
National Human Rights Commission; a member of the Bar
Association; a member of the National Women's Commission; a
member of the journalists association; a member of the
National Chamber of Commerce). Another member, Hem Bahadur
Singh, is a former Inspector General of Police.


4. (C) Comment: At first glance, the GON appears to have
ceded more territory in this latest round than they have
gained. Allowing the RNA to patrol at all--even if limited
to a 5-km radius around their barracks--represents at best a
minor concession for the Maoists, who had been demanding that
the troops be confined to barracks. The GON had indicated
earlier its willingness to release the last few members of
the Central Committee still detained. Its decision to do so
now, after the conclusion of the second round of talks is
likely intended as a show of good faith. It is too early to
tell if the final composition of the monitoring team will be
more politically balanced than it appears at present; much
depends on the affiliations of the remaining seven
individuals to be identified. It is difficult to determine,
based on these preliminary reports, the extent of GON
concessions. If our sources' descriptions are accurate, it
seems likely that the GON commitments are intended as
confidence-building measures to maintain momentum--and thus
popular support--for dialogue.
MALINOWSKI