NEPAL: MAOIST WEBSITE POSTS CONTENTS OF ARMY

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000045 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SA/INS, LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY, NSC FOR MILLARD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST WEBSITE POSTS CONTENTS OF ARMY BRIEFING REF: 03 KATHMANDU 2500 ¶1. (SBU) ON JANUARY 5, NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENTS POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE (WWW.CPNM.ORG) A TRANSCRIPT OF THE ROYAL NEPAL ARMY BRIEFING PROVIDED TO ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SOUTH ASIA, CHRISTINA ROCCA, DURING HER VISIT IN DECEMBER 2003 AND REPORTED REFTEL. ACCORDING TO MAJOR INDRA BAHADUR SHAH OF THE RNA'S DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, THE ARMY IS MYSTIFIED AS TO HOW THE MAOISTS OBTAINED A COPY OF WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS A "SECRET" DOCUMENT. ¶2. (SBU) COMMENT. WITHOUT GLOSS OR EDITORIAL COMMENT BY THE MAOISTS, THE PUBLISHED TRANSCRIPT IS A FAITHFUL REPRODUCTION OF THE RNA BRIEFING. INTERESTINGLY, THE MAOISTS DID NOT CENSOR OR ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT THE BRIEFING'S CONTENT. FOR EXAMPLE, THE RNA'S ASSERTIONS THAT THE INSURGENCY CAN ONLY BE SOLVED THROUGH POLITICAL DIALOGUE AS WELL AS THE ARMY'S COMMITMENT TO "DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW" WERE INCLUDED, UNEXPURGATED, ON THE MAOIST WEB PAGE. THE UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT OF THE BRIEFING ALSO PROVIDED AN UNFLATTERING PORTRAYAL OF MAOIST TACTICS, HIGHLIGHTING SUCH ATROCITIES AS KIDNAPPING, EXTORTION AND KILLINGS. THE EMBASSY HAS NO INFORMATION ON HOW THE MAOISTS OBTAINED THE TEXT. BY PUBLICIZING THE RNA BRIEFING, THE INSURGENTS LIKELY SOUGHT TO DEMONSTRATE THE MAOISTS' INTELLIGENCE GATHERING CAPABILITY AND TO HIGHLIGHT THE CLOSE COUNTER- TERRORIST COOPERATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF NEPAL AND THE U.S. A COPY OF THE MAOIST TEXT ON THE WEBSITE HAS BEEN EMAILED TO SA/INS. END COMMENT. MALINOWSKI