MAOISTS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES

S E C R E T KATHMANDU 002491 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016 TAGS: PGOV PTER NP SUBJECT: MAOISTS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES REF: KATHMANDU 2490 Classified By: DCM Nicholas Dean. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) On September 13, the Maoists called a nationwide traffic strike to protest an alleged shipment of weapons from India to the Nepal Army in violation of the government-Maoist cease-fire Code of Conduct. The Government of Nepal (GON) denied these allegations. It said that no weapons had entered Nepal from India. The Indian Embassy also denied the allegations. The GON and Maoists agreed to have the National Cease-Fire Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee inspect the shipment. No weapons were found and the Maoists called off the strike. Throughout the day, traffic in most major cities in Nepal was brought to a halt. In Kathmandu, traffic was disrupted and crowds of protestors burned tires across the city, including outside many of the major hotels. After the Maoists called off their strike, the city returned to normal. Alleged Arms Shipment Upsets Maoists -------------- ¶2. (C/NF) Maoists alleged on September 12 that the GON was bringing a shipment of arms from India for the Nepal Army (NA). Based on this allegation, the Maoists called a "chakka jam" (traffic closure) for all of Nepal. The GON denied these allegations, and Home Minister Sitaula stated that no arms had been imported from India. A press release from the Indian Embassy called the allegations "baseless and untrue" and said that there were eight empty trucks being delivered to the NA as troop carriers. The NA told the ODC Chief that the trucks were intended to outfit the NA's Lebanon UNIFIL PKO unit. Sitaula confirmed this in a news release. ¶3. (SBU) Post later learned that there were two separate convoys. One consisted of empty troop transport trucks from India consigned to the NA. The other was a domestic NA convoy carrying supplies for the UNIFIL team. The Maoists focused on the convoy from India, claiming that it contained weapons. Late afternoon news reports stated that Ananta, Maoist leader in charge of the special command, accused the NA of removing the weapons from the trucks before they could be inspected. ¶4. (SBU) The National Monitoring Committee for the Ceasefire Code of Conduct traveled on September 13 to the troop transport convoy and checked the contents of the trucks; they reported that there was nothing inside. A USAID-funded peace facilitator told us that he and UN Special Representative Ian Martin had scrambled to provide transportation for the Monitoring Committee to inspect the shipment from India. The facilitator said that he believed that Maoists would not have given up their strike unless they were satisfied with the Committee's inspection. The facilitator said that the situation had been resolved amicably. ¶5. (C) Suresh Chalise, Foreign Policy Advisor to the PM, told the DCM that the Maoists were simply using the arms import issue as a pretext to provoke demonstrations across the country. He also expressed unease about the Maoist women's demonstration scheduled for that day, which attracted a reported 15,000 participants. Leading businessman Rajendra Khetan suggested to Emboff that he suspected the Maoists were looking for an excuse to practice a "mini-October revolution" and had used the NA truck convoy as an excuse to do it. Situation in Kathmandu -------------- ¶6. (S/NF) As the strike began in Kathmandu, the Embassy began hearing reports that demonstrators had spontaneously gathered in various parts of the city burning tires, chanting slogans, and destroying vehicles. As demonstrations increased, the Embassy went to lockdown status, located all Embassy employees and family members, and told them to stay wherever they were. An EAC was immediately convened to assess the situation (reftel). ¶7. (C) Reports coming from hotels around the city indicated that hotels had been locked down, and that Maoists were burning tires near the entrances of many of the most prominent ones (Hyatt, Radisson, Shangri-La). The Consular section reported that the casino in the Yak and Yeti hotel (where Consular and Public Affairs is located) was closed and padlocked, and that Maoists had been seen outside the hotel. The manager at the Shangri-La hotel reported that Maoists were demonstrating in the street outside of the hotel, but that no Maoists had attempted to enter. Other hotels reported similar situations. ¶8. (SBU) As quickly as the demonstrations began, they ended. First report of demonstrations reached the Embassy at 1210 and the demonstrations ended at around 1430. Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) Although demonstrations have been occurring regularly over the last few weeks, today protestors burned tires and demonstrated outside of major hotels and in the center of the city. Most demonstrations in the past occurred in very predictable places on the city's periphery. These protests occurred in random, unexpected places. This was the first major protest where the Maoists were active and visibly present at various locations within Kathmandu's ring road. During the people's movement in April, security forces successfully kept protestors, for the most part, outside the ring road. The Maoists have demonstrated their ability to cause chaos within the city limits. ¶10. (C) It is likely that the Maoists were using today's protests as a prelude to bigger protests in the future, to test the reaction of police and security forces, and to see how easily they could create chaos in the city. The GON's failure to react and restore law and order is troubling, and we will continue to press the GON on this issue. This incident also appears to indicate that the Maoist leadership has the ability to turn such protests "on" and "off" at short notice, and contradicts the idea popular among many Seven Party Alliance leaders that the Maoists lack command and control over their low-level cadre. MORIARTY