UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, DECEMBER 20-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000005

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
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USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST
FINANCING
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NSC FOR MILLARD
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA LILIENFELD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PTER CASC PGOV NP
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, DECEMBER 20-
JANUARY 2

REFERENCE: (A) KATHMANDU 2475
(B) KATHMANDU 1391

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


1. Thirteen security personnel and forty-two Maoists
reportedly were killed in clashes this week. Twenty
security personnel and two civilians also suffered injuries.
Maoist cadres reportedly killed five civilians, including a
pregnant woman, and abducted nine others. On December 25,
the Special Court of Nepal again issued a summons for Maoist
Supremo Prachanda, while on December 30 the Patan Appellate
Court issued summons for five other senior Maoists. Eighty-
three insurgents reportedly surrendered throughout Nepal
this week, despite Maoist Supremo Prachanda lambasting the
Government of Nepal's (GON) "Surrender and Amnesty Policy"
(Ref A) as "ridiculous and shameless."


2. Summary Continued. The local press quoted senior
government officials on December 23 as saying that India has
never cooperated with Nepal on arrests of Maoists, declaring
that Ambassador Saran was "uttering a white lie" when he
publicly declared his government was committed to helping
find the insurgents (Ref A). Maoist cadres continue to form
so-called Peoples' Governments in districts throughout
Nepal. Villagers defied Maoist orders not to attend GON
sponsored programs in several districts. Educational
strikes called by the All Nepal National Independent
Students' Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R),the Maoist-
affiliated student organization, have forced additional
school closures, affecting over 15,000 students. Maoists
reportedly robbed several banks this week, and demanded
ransom for detainees in their custody. End Summary.

DEATH TOLL KEEPS CLIMBING
--------------


3. Thirteen security personnel reportedly were killed this
week. A New Year's Eve ambush in Dhanusa District, in the
east, killed a police officer. Later that same day in
nearby Sarlahi District, three police officers were injured
in a Maoist attack. On December 30, three Royal Nepal Army
(RNA) soldiers were killed in the southwestern district of
Kapilvastu after Maoist rebels opened fire on their vehicle.
An Armed Police Force (APF) officer was killed on December
29 in Kailali District, in the far-western Terai, when a
bomb planted on a bus by Maoists exploded during a security
check. Two civilians on the bus suffered injuries. On
December 26, four RNA soldiers died and eleven suffered
injuries after their truck ran over a Maoist-planted
landmine in Makwanpar District, south of Kathmandu. Three
other soldiers were killed in Kaski District on December 24
in separate incidents, and five security personnel sustained
injuries in firefights. Maoists reportedly attacked a
police post in Kanchanpar District on December 22, killing
one policeman and injuring another.


4. Security forces reportedly killed forty-two Maoists. On
December 29, three insurgents were killed in the eastern
districts of Dhading and Rautahat, and three others on
December 25 in the northeastern district of Dolakha. On
December 24, six rebels died in separate clashes in the
eastern districts of Taplejung, Dhading and Therathum, and
four insurgents in the western district of Salyan. Eighteen
Maoists reportedly were killed on December 23. Five died in
clashes in the neighboring western districts of Surkhet and
Dailekh, and thirteen in the eastern districts of Morang,
Taplejung and Dhankuta. A battle on December 22 in the
northeastern district of Solukhumbu left seven rebels dead,
and a female Maoist commander was killed on December 20 in
Udaypur District.

MAOIST CADRES SURRENDER
--------------


5. In response to the GON's recent announcement of its
"Surrender and Amnesty Policy" (Ref A),Maoist Supremo
Prachanda issued a statement on December 19 calling the
policy "ridiculous and shameless." Prachanda went on to
declare that the invitation by the GON for Maoist cadres to
surrender was a ploy to cover up the defeat of security
forces.


6. Eighty-three insurgents reportedly surrendered
throughout Nepal this week. On December 26, sixty-two
Maoists reportedly surrendered to security forces in Lamjung
District, stating that they were dissatisfied with the
violent and destructive activities of the Maoists. On
December 25, seven members of a Maoist sister organization
in the eastern district of Khotang surrendered to officials
in the District Administration Office. Ten other insurgents
surrendered on December 24, seven in the western district of
Kalikot, and three others in the eastern district of
Sindhuli. On December 22, four Maoist cadres in Saptari
District also surrendered.

COURTS SUMMON MAOIST LEADERSHIP
--------------


7. On December 25, the Special Court of Nepal again issued
a summons for Maoist Supremo Prachanda to appear and respond
to charges filed by the Government of Nepal (GON),including
the July 2000 attack on a police station in Sindhupalchowk
District which left four policemen dead. The Maoist leader
has been ordered to appear in court within fifteen days of
being served with the summons. Police have been ordered to
ensure that Prachanda receives the notice, but no current
address has been supplied. This is the second time that the
court has issued the summons. Police previously failed to
serve the notice.


8. On December 30, the Patan Appellate Court ordered five
senior Maoists to appear before the court within seven days.
Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Rabindra Shrestha, Bamdev Chhetri,
Barsaman Pun, and Dilip Kumar Sijapati are accused of
extortion and terrorist activities in cases filed against
them under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act.

GON CLAIMS INDIA "UTTERING A WHITE LIE"
--------------


9. GON officials reacted angrily to Indian Ambassador Shyam
Saran's recent public statements that India would cooperate
and arrest Maoists in India if the GON shared vital
information on the Maoists' identities and whereabouts (Ref
B). The local press quoted senior government officials as
saying that India has never cooperated with Nepal and
Ambassador Saran was "uttering a white lie." Several
unnamed GON and police officials were quoted as saying that
they had provided advance information to the Government of
India (GOI) on a number of Maoist meetings in India,
including high-level central committee meetings in Gorakhpur
in 2001 and Bihar in 2000 and the Revolutionary
Internationalist Movement (RIM) meeting, which politburo
members of the Maoists were said to have attended in July
2003 (Ref B). The GON reportedly requested raids on those
meetings, but Indian authorities did not respond. In
response to those allegations, specifically with respect to
the meeting in Gorakhpur, the First Secretary for Press,
Information, and Culture at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu
told the local press "no information whatsoever was ever
received."

MAOISTS DECLARE PEOPLES' GOVERNMENT
--------------


10. Maoist cadres continue to form so-called Peoples'
Governments in some districts. The insurgents reportedly
have set up committees in the eastern districts of Udayapur,
Panchthar, and Sarlahi, and also in the western district of
Kapilvastu. Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai has declared
repeatedly that the Maoists control eighty percent of Nepal.
This claim has been denied vehemently by the GON, which
insists that its forces can move into any area of the
kingdom they wish.

VILLAGERS DEFY MAOISTS
--------------


11. In a rare show of force against the Maoists, local
villagers in Bhojpur and Ilam retaliated against insurgents.
On December 23, villagers in Bhojpur District severely beat
a Maoist commander and a district vice-president of the All
Nepal National Independent Students' Union-Revolutionary
(ANNISU-R),who had been extorting money from them. In the
far eastern district of Ilam, locals reportedly have formed
a committee to resist Maoist demands, and have requested
that the local government supply them with sophisticated
weapons. Military officials reportedly said they would not
provide weapons, but would provide weapons training.
According to a December 31 press report, security forces
already have supplied training and arms to locals in the
eastern district of Sarlahi, who had previously fought
successfully against Maoists attempting to abduct the son of
a former Village Development Committee (VDC) member.
Seventeen villagers reportedly received training, and ten
were given guns. Security officials denied that they have
provided weapons to anyone.


12. Residents of Dolakha District, in the northeast, defied
Maoists orders to attend a mobile camp sponsored by the
government. Attendees received medical check-ups, passport
services, and citizenship papers. The insurgents had issued
an order banning locals from taking part in the program. An
estimated 10,000 people took part in a similar program on
December 28 in the district of Bardiya, despite also being
warned by area Maoists not to participate.

ANNISU-R FORCES CLOSURE OF MORE SCHOOLS
--------------


13. Educational strikes called by the All Nepal National
Independent Students' Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R),the
Maoist-affiliated student organization, have forced
additional school closures. In the western district of
Baglung alone, the number of schools forced to close has
increased to 115. ANNISU-R members have threatened an
indefinite shut down if their student leaders are not
released by the Government. Thirty-five schools in the
remote western district of Mugu shut their doors after
ANNISU-R demanded the schools follow a Maoist calendar in
place of the government calendar. The closures affect
15,000 students. ANNISU-R has also announced an educational
shut-down in the eastern district of Morang for December 29-
January 2, to protest alleged incidents of violence by
security forces against unarmed students. The militant
student wing has ordered all schools in the region to close.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST MURDERED;
CIVILIANS SUFFER AT HANDS OF MAOISTS
--------------


14. On December 30, a pregnant woman reportedly was
murdered by Maoists in the eastern district of Sarlahi. A
human rights activist with the Informal Sector Service
Centre (INSEC),a private NGO, was murdered on December 25
in Banke District, a Maoist stronghold. Maoists are
suspected to be responsible. Maoists reportedly killed a
Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML)
cadre on December 28. On December 27, rebels killed a
civilian in Kailali District reportedly following a dispute
over extortion demands. A teacher, reportedly abducted by
Maoists on December 21, was found dead on December 23.
Rebels abducted him after accusing him of being an informant
for security forces. A Nepali Congress (NC) worker
reportedly was hacked to death by Maoists on December 19 in
Dhanusha District. He had been abducted several days
earlier.


15. Maoists reportedly abducted three civilians on December
25 in Sindhupalchowk and a farmer in Salyan on December 29.
Four other farmers were abducted on December 24 in Pyuthan
District. Rebels also abducted a civilian in Rautahat,
accusing him of spying for the RNA.

MAOISTS STRAPPED FOR CASH?
--------------


16. Maoists reportedly robbed several banks this week, and
demanded ransom for detainees in their custody. On December
30, a group of armed Maoists stole computers, jewelry and
USD 4000 from a bank in Chitwan. On December 24, insurgents
stole local currency worth USD 6500 from a bank in Urlabari.


17. On December 29, Maoists reportedly abducted the father
of a journalist in the western district of Surkhet after
stealing USD 400 from him. The rebels are demanding a
ransom of USD 4000 for his release. Press accounts from
Khotang District report that rebels in that region have
demanded almost USD 5000 from family members for the release
of people abducted by the insurgents to face various charges
in the Maoists' so-called "Peoples' Courts." On December
24, Maoists boarded a bus in Jhapa District and robbed
passengers of over USD 3000. On December 22, Maoists
reportedly bombed a steel factory in Bara District after the
owner refused to meet their extortion demands.

MALINOWSKI