UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, May 10-15

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000901

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
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STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER
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LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST
FINANCING
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PTER CASC PGOV NP
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, May 10-15

REFERENCE: KATHMANDU 0860

SUMMARY
--------------


1. The second round of peace talks between negotiators for
the Government of Nepal (GON) and Maoists was held on May 9
(Reftel). International envoys continue to express support
and hope for successful peace talks. The Royal Nepal Army
(RNA) says it will not accept limitations on its patrolling.
Maoist recruitment of children continues despite denials by
a senior Maoist leader. Extortion, abduction, looting and
physical assault by the Maoists continue despite their
public claims to be abiding by the ceasefire. Thousands of
people defied Maoist orders to attend free health camps set
up by the Royal Nepal Army (RNA). The All Nepal National
Independent Students' Union- Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) locked
the accounting offices of various schools in protest of high
tuition fees. End summary.

SECOND ROUND OF TALKS HELD
--------------


2. The second round of peace talks between negotiators for
the GON and Maoists was held on May 9 (Reftel). Krishna
Bahadur Mahara, Maoist spokesman, told reporters at the
conclusion of the talks that they had taken "a positive
turn," while Narayan Singh Pun, Minister of Physical
Planning and Works and government negotiating team member,
termed them a "historic success." Maoist representatives
used the second round to present additional demands, while
the GON still has not presented its agenda. Minister Pun
said the GON's agenda would be discussed only after the
Maoists' demands were sorted out. (Comment: Considering
the Maoist penchant for seemingly endless demands, it is
difficult to say when the GON's agenda will surface.) The
second round concluded with the GON, yet again, conceding to
several more Maoist demands, apparently including limiting
the movement of the army to within a three-mile radius of
their barracks, and agreeing to release three Central
Committee Members still imprisoned. (Note: The Maoists had
demanded the release of five of their Central Committee
Members as a pre-condition for peace talks. The GON has
already released two. End Note). No date has been set for
the next round.

SUPPORT AND SKEPTICISM FOR PEACE TALKS
--------------


3. With the completion of the second round of talks,
members of the international community have become more
vocal in expressing hope and support for a peaceful
solution. Ingrid Ofstad, Ambassador of Norway to Nepal,
expressed hope that some of Nepal's social and economic
problems could be resolved now that the peace talks appeared
to be progressing. Asko Luukkhainen, Charge d'Affairs of
the Embassy of Finland, said he was confident that the peace
talks would be a success, declaring that his government
"welcomed the negotiations."


4. Official peace talk facilitators, however, apparently do
not share this optimism. Padma Ratna Tuladhar and Daman
Nath Dhungana, both facilitators in the current talks as
well as the failed talks in 2001, reportedly have expressed
concern over the lack of participation from political
parties, civil society and human rights activists. Tuladhar
and Dhungana, speaking at a human rights symposium on May
10, cautioned that the talks could flounder.

RNA REJECTS RESTRICTIONS
--------------


5. Controversy has surrounded the supposed deal made
between the GON and the Maoists to limit the movement of the
Royal Nepal Army (RNA). Amidst strong protests from the
RNA, some government officials have denied that a deal was
struck, and members of the RNA have said they will not
accept the deal. Colonel Deepak Gurung, RNA spokesman, said
on May 14 that the army will continue patrolling as usual.
Gurung reiterated that the Maoists still pose a threat to
security, and that the RNA would not restrict itself to a
three-mile radius until it recovered all of the looted
weapons from the insurgents. Gurung also told the DCM that
he had not received any official word from the GON on the
restrictions.


6. According to local press reports, senior officers in the
RNA have also refused to acknowledge the deal made between
the GON and the Maoists, and have strongly condemned the
GON's decision. A local publication quoted an unnamed army
official on May 11 as saying that the decision should have
been made by the Defense Council (comprised of the Prime
Minister, Defense Minister and Chief of the Army) and not by
"a few ministers." Other top officers were quoted as
saying the army will never accept the deal, declaring that
it jeopardizes national security. Dev Gurung, a politburo
member of the Maoists, however, said the RNA was simply
trying to establish military rule. Minister Pun, in
response to press inquiries on May 11 about the
restrictions, was quick to point out that it would take time
to implement.


FORMER CHILD SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT AS MAOIST
LEADER DENIES RECRUITING CHILDREN
--------------


7. Partha Chettri, a Maoist leader recently released from
prison, dismissed allegations of child recruitment by the
Maoists as "war propaganda." His denials directly contrast
with the admissions made by Maoist cadres in the eastern
district of Panchthar, who claim that they recruited youths
as recently as May 14 to join militant ranks. Press reports
from the district quoted a Maoist leader as saying that
seventeen youths were taken from their families for the
purpose of serving in the "People's War." Chettri's
denials, issued on May 11, also come at a time when many
child soldiers who had been underground are returning home.
A vernacular publication, which conducted interviews with
former child soldiers from the far-western district of
Kalikot, reports that that district alone had three hundred
child soldiers, some of whom were as young as eight years,
and who reportedly were ready to resume fighting if peace
talks fail. A ten-year-old child who joined the Maoist
insurgency two years ago told the publication that there
were "hundreds of children like me." Although many of them
spoke of being willing to return to the jungle if the peace
talks failed, most said they had endured "unimaginable
hardships" as soldiers, and hoped that they would never have
to pick up a gun again.

MAOIST VIOLATIONS RAMPANT
--------------


8. A report released on May 9 that was compiled by local
district security committees documents widespread and
rampant ceasefire violations by Maoists. According to the
report, Maoist violations include extortion; holding mass
meetings while armed; abduction of civilians, including
women and children; forcing families to attend public
gatherings; assault; disruption of infrastructure
reconstruction projects and postal operations; and extorting
money from tourists.


9. Maoists reportedly have stepped up their recruitment in
the far-western district of Accham, along with increased
extortion and looting of money and food. The insurgents
have also reportedly locked up the Village Development
Committee (VDC) offices in Bardiya and Salyan Districts,
causing government workers to shut down operations and flee.
Maoists have also carried out looting sprees in Bardiya,
stealing wheat, lentils and other cash crops that were being
transported after harvest. Many of the villagers have fled
the region as a result. In Kailali District the insurgents
reportedly threatened to break the hands and legs of people
who interfered with their looting of forestry offices.


10. Maoists continue to target innocent civilians,
abducting thirteen people from various districts. The
insurgents claim some of the victims were taken on suspicion
of stealing, but no reason was given for the kidnapping of
others, including a district secretary for the Communist
Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).


11. Extortion campaigns by the Maoists are not limited to
locals. The Nepal Association of Rafting Agents (NARA)
claims that the insurgents still demand money from tourists
and agents who want to raft on rivers in areas where Maoists
operate. Mahendra Singh Thapa, President of NARA, said the
exactions have continued despite the ceasefire, with
tourists being forced to pay a twenty-dollar "donation" to
the insurgents. The rafting industry has been especially
hard hit by the Maoist insurgency, with the number of
rafting agencies dwindling from seventy to thirty-six.

RNA HOLDS HEALTH CAMPS
--------------


12. Thousands of people defied a Maoist ban to attend free
health camps set up by the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) in some of
the hardest hit mid-western districts. Over ten thousand
people reportedly received medical assistance in the
districts of Dang, Salyan, Rukum and Rolpa. Maoists in
those regions reportedly ordered villagers not to attend the
camps, proclaiming them to be in violation of the ceasefire.
The Insurgents also threatened villagers on their way to the
camps, and cut off the drinking water supply to health camps
in Salyan District. The RNA says it has no plans to
discontinue the health camps, and is organizing similar
programs in other remote districts of the mid- and far-
western regions.

ANNISU-R LOCKS ACCOUNTING OFFICES
--------------


13. The All Nepal National Independent Students' Union-
Revolutionary (ANNISU-R),the Maoist affiliated student
wing, carried out their threat to lock the accounting
offices of various private schools. The militant students
began the lockouts on May 9 as a protest against
"unreasonable" fees charged by private institutions. The
lockouts continued with the shutdown of two accounting
offices at schools in Bara District on May 12. While
classes were not disrupted, the students warned that they
would impose indefinite strikes on the schools if their
concerns were not taken seriously. Officials at the Bara
schools said they were forced to raise fees because money
provided by the GON was insufficient.

BOGGS