Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04KATHMANDU673
2004-04-09 08:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, APRIL 3-9,

Tags:  PINS PTER CASC PGOV NP PHUM 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000673 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ
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
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN
NSC FOR MILLARD
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA LILIENFELD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PTER CASC PGOV NP PHUM
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, APRIL 3-9,
2004

REFERENCE: (A) KATHMANDU 0588

(B) KATHMANDU 0516
(C) KATHMANDU 0638
(D) KATHMANDU 0620

SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000673

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ
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
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN
NSC FOR MILLARD
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA LILIENFELD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PTER CASC PGOV NP PHUM
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, APRIL 3-9,
2004

REFERENCE: (A) KATHMANDU 0588

(B) KATHMANDU 0516
(C) KATHMANDU 0638
(D) KATHMANDU 0620

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


1. A Maoist nighttime attack on a police post in the west
left nine policemen dead and six injured. Five other
security personnel and nineteen rebels were killed in
separate clashes. The extradition of arrested Maoist senior
politburo member Mohan Vaidya (Ref A) reportedly has been
delayed indefinitely, pending his trial in India. The
Government of India condemned attacks by Maoists this week
against Indian nationals and vehicles as "blatant acts of
terrorism." Maoists released 37 captives taken after the
deadly attack in Myagdi District (Ref B). The five
political parties continued their protests, while the
Government of Nepal (GON) warned of possible Maoist
infiltration of the protests. The Kathmandu Valley endured
a one-day general closure (bandh) declared by the political
parties on April 3 and a nationwide Maoist-declared 3-day
bandh on April 6-8. Maoists reportedly murdered five
civilians in separate incidents this week. Maoist bombs
damaged buildings and an ambulance. Maoists continue to
forcibly gather up thousands of villagers for participation
in their programs. The recent spike in violence and
protests has caused a decline in tourist arrivals. Maoist
surrenders reportedly have surpassed 800 since the
announcement of the GON's amnesty program. End Summary.

DEADLY ATTACKS ON POLICE POSTS
--------------


2. Maoists in Ilam District, which borders India on the
east, attacked a police post on April 8 killing two
policemen. Forty-one other security personnel reportedly
were taken hostage by the rebels and remain missing. The
local press reported that police on the Indian side said the

Maoists launched the attack from Indian soil, and found
large numbers of bullet casings nearby. Prior to the Maoist
offensive, a female cadre, speaking on a loudspeaker in both
Hindi and Nepali, allegedly warned people on the Indian side
not to interfere or cross the border. On April 4, a
nighttime attack on another police post in the southern
district of Dhanusha left nine officers dead and six
injured. Armed Maoists, which estimates numbered as high as
500 and as low as 30, stormed the post and were able to
overrun it. Fifteen police remain unaccounted for. On that
same day in the western district of Kavre, three Royal Nepal
Army (RNA) soldiers were killed after their vehicle ran over
a Maoist-planted landmine.


3. Nineteen Maoists reportedly were killed by security
forces this week: seven in the districts of Doti, Bardiya
and Kailali on April 5; seven in the districts of Dolakha
and Dhangadi on April 4; three in Morang District on April
3; and two in Morang on April 2.

INDIA DELAYS EXTRADITION OF VAIDYA;
MAOISTS TARGET INDIAN NATIONALS
--------------


4. On April 8, the local press reported that Maoist senior
politburo member Mohan Vaidya, also known as Kiran, who was
arrested in India on March 30 (Ref A),was placed in
judicial custody and charged with "waging war against
India." Several days earlier, on April 3, the local press
reported that officials with India's Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) would not immediately extradite Vaidya.
The recent developments suggest that Vaidya will likely be
tried in Indian court for being involved in "anti-social
work on Indian soil," and reportedly for establishing
contact with Indian militant organizations. Vaidya is the
highest-ranking Maoist to be arrested since the start of the
so-called "Peoples' War." On April 2, Indian police
reportedly also arrested a Maoist commander from Nepal's
Rautahat District, which borders India on the south.


5. Maoists conducted several attacks against Indian
commercial interests, allegedly in retaliation against the
Indian government's arrest of Mohan Vaidya. On April 4,
Maoists torched 18 tankers parked near the India-Nepal
border in the far-western district of Kailali. The rebels
reportedly forced the drivers of the vehicles out of the
trucks at gunpoint, and subsequently torched the tankers one
by one. The trucks had Indian license plates, though they
purportedly are owned by Nepalese businessmen. In a
separate incident on that same day, Maoists reportedly fired
on a group of three Indian nationals and set their truck on
fire in Bhairahawa after the men resisted rebel extortion
demands. A note left at the scene reportedly said the
rebels were avenging Vaidya's arrest and warned that Indian
financed institutions would be the "next targets." On April
6, the local press reported that Maoists in the far-western
district of Bardiya, which borders India on the south,
forced over 20 Indian businessmen to leave the district and
issued warnings to 40 others.


6. India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a press
statement on April 5 condemning the attacks against Indian
nationals in Nepal as "blatant acts of terrorism," and
called for the apprehension and punishment of the
responsible individuals. The statement also said that the
Government of India holds Maoist leaders responsible, and
demanded full security from the Government of Nepal (GON).
In response, the GON said its security agencies had been
alerted to "reinforce security measures."

MAOISTS RELEASE CAPTIVES
--------------


7. On April 6, Maoists released 37 hostages (Ref C),
including the Chief District officer (CDO),the highest
ranking civil servant, and the Deputy Superintendent of
Police (DSP),the highest-ranking police officer, held for
sixteen days after the massed attack by the rebels in Myagdi
District (Ref B). The captives were turned over to the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the far
western district of Rolpa, and later brought to Kathmandu.
Six policemen remain unaccounted for.

PARTY PROTESTS CONTINUE; GON
WARNS OF MAOIST INFILTRATION
--------------


8. Nepal's five principal political parties have staged
daily demonstrations since the April 1 protest against
"regression." (Ref D). While the demonstrations remained
largely peaceful, a particularly violent day on April 2
resulted in the parties declaring a valley closure on April

3. Businesses were shut down and most public and private
vehicles stayed off the roads.


9. On April 4, the Home Ministry issued a statement urging
the political parties, civil society, and the media to
cooperate with the government in maintaining peace and to
refrain from violence. The Home Ministry voiced concern
over the "extreme and objectionable" chanting against the
monarchy and the constitution. The GON warned against
infiltration of the protests by Maoists, and pointed to the
violence, arson, and vandalism being perpetrated by the
demonstrators as evidence of the terror the rebels would
bring if the parties welcomed their participation.
Representatives of the political parties, speaking to
reporters, said they would never join the "murderous and
violent" activities of the Maoists. Despite this, Maoist
supremo Prachanda, through a press statement issued on April
2, voiced his support for the political parties' protests.

THREE-DAY BANDH CLOSES KATHMANDU
--------------


10. A Maoist-called three-day nationwide shut-down (bandh)
during April 6-8 closed schools, shops and transportation,
but remained generally peaceful. There were a few
incidents, including two bomb blasts in the Valley on April
7 and another bomb in neighboring Bhaktapur District on
April 8. As is typical of the rebels, in the days leading
up to the bandh, several bombs were exploded to force the
general population to observe the bandh: two near the
Election Commission headquarters and one in Chitwan District
on April 3; two at a government building in Kathmandu
District on April 5; two in the Valley on April 5; and one
at the District Education Office in Dhading District on
April 3, which killed one civilian and injured two others.

MAOIST VIOLENCE CLAIMS CIVILIAN LIVES
--------------


11. Maoists reportedly murdered five civilians in separate
incidents this week. A Deputy Secretary of the Communist
Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) was killed
in the far-western district of Bajura on April 8; another
civilian was shot dead in Nawalparasi District on April 5;
one in Jhapa District on April 6; a government employee was
shot dead in Baglung District; and a 65 year-old man was
abducted and killed in Rautahat District on April 2.


12. On April 8, in Dang District, a Maoist stronghold in
the west, a group of rebels attacked an ambulance owned by
the Red Cross. The vehicle was hit by socket bombs and
sustained damage to the windshield. On April 3, Maoists
bombed the ancestral home of Home Minister Kamal Thapa in
Makwanpur District, injuring two police guarding the house,
and causing slight damage to the structure.

MAOIST ROUND UPS CONTINUE
--------------


13. Maoists continue to forcibly conscript thousands of
villagers for participation in their programs. On April 7,
1500 youths reportedly were taken from schools in the far-
western district of Kanchanpur. According to security
officials, they were taken by rebels who want to "re-educate
them." The majority of the youths were released the
following day after attending an indoctrination program. A
district secretary with the CPN-UML said 3,000 villagers
fled to India and neighboring districts after the mass round
up, and criticized the government for failing to protect
villagers. On April 6, 31 youths from Panchthar District in
the east also were taken and released the following day
after attending Maoist programs. On April 3, 60 teachers in
the far-western district of Dadeldhura were taken by the
Maoists to attend a "Teachers' Meet program." They have not
been released. On April 8, villagers in Kanchanpar
District, reportedly killed seven Maoists. Eyewitnesses
said the villagers were "angered by the Maoists," who had
forced them to participate in a political program. The
villagers reportedly returned the next day to the program
venue and beat the rebels to death.

MAOISTS AFTER AUTOCRATIC RULE?
--------------


14. On April 4, the local press reported that a videotape
seized by the RNA at the scene of the massed attack in
Myagdi District (Ref B) shows Maoist commanders pledging to
"cripple the coalition" and prevent elections in order to
secure power for themselves. The commanders allege that the
"reactionary forces," including the parliamentary parties,
have formed a conspiracy to form an all-party government,
and therefore the rebels must "obstruct the polls," the main
objective of the attack in Myagdi District.

TOURISM INDUSTRY TAKES A HIT
--------------


15. The spike in violence and frequent "bandhs" have forced
tourists to cancel trips to Nepal. According to Tek Bahadur
Dangi, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board,
cancellations are "on a constant rise," because of the
political unrest. Dangi said the rate of tourist arrivals
had shown some improvements, but the events of the past
several weeks had once again caused the numbers to decline.
Narendra Bajarcharya, president of Hotel Association of
Nepal (HAN),said the recent strikes and protests have also
caused tourists to shorten their stays, leaving with "a
negative image of Nepal."

MAOISTS SURRENDERS SURPASS 800
--------------


16. On April 2, the Home Ministry said the total number of
surrendered Maoists had now reached 852 from 66 different
districts since the announcement of the GON's amnesty
program.

MALINOWSKI