PEACE TALKS POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER 15

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002703 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016 TAGS: PGOV PTER NP SUBJECT: PEACE TALKS POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER 15 REF: A. KATHMANDU 2700 ¶B. KATHMANDU 2680 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Nicholas Dean. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). TALKS SUSPENDED AFTER BRIEF THIRD DAY OF DISCUSSION -------------- -------------- ¶1. (C) After a third day of peace talks on October 12, Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) and Maoist leaders have decided to postpone peace talks until October 15. The leaders met for less than two hours during the afternoon of October 12 before deciding to continue the talks at a later date. Arjun Narsingh K.C., Central Committee Member of the Nepali Congress (NC),told Emboff that the NC had pressed to resolve the arms management issue and acknowledged that some progress had been made, but did not elaborate on details. Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, Central Committee Member of the Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-D) and member of the Government of Nepal's (GON) negotiating team, explained to Emboff that a resolution to all the pressing issues (reftels) would come in a package. He said that until a full package resolution was agreed on, he could not disclose any details of today's discussions. Mahat acknowledged, however, that some progress had been made. Dev Gurung, a member of the Maoist negotiating team, said that new issues came up during today's discussions and SPA leaders needed more time to discuss these issues. COMMENT -------------- ¶2. (C) Maoist spin was intended to suggest that postponement of talks was more a result of the GON's desire for extra time to discuss issues than the Maoists' need to do the same. Regardless, consensus is that progress in the talks was positive and will continue after a two-day pause for huddling. While it is welcome that the Maoists remain eager to keep the talks going, the main question remains whether or not the GON will hold firm on arms management. For now, many Nepalis are optimistic and hopeful that talks will bring a much desired peace. We will continue to stress unity among the SPA and the importance of arms management in the ongoing talks. DEAN