MAOIST BOMBS AND KIDNAPPING OF POLISH CITIZENS;

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000819

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/INS
NSC FOR RICHELSOPH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PTER CASC ASEC NP
SUBJECT: MAOIST BOMBS AND KIDNAPPING OF POLISH CITIZENS;
UML URGES CEASE-FIRE

REF: KATHMANDU 762

Classified By: ADCM John Schlosser. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) A Central Committee Member of the United
Marxist-Leninist (UML) publicly urged the Maoists to declare
a cease-fire to "open a door" for dialogue between the "three
political powers." A Maoist bomb inside Kathmandu's Ring
Road on March 25, another at a college campus in western
Nepal on March 26, and the March 26 kidnapping of two Polish
citizens in eastern Nepal continued the uptick in Maoist
violence. The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) reportedly
"manhandled" over 100 villagers in western Nepal allegedly
because they provided food and shelter to Maoists who were
suspected by the RNA of killing an RNA soldier on leave.
Home Minister Kamal Thapa warned the Parties on March 24 that
His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMGN) would treat the
Parties as terrorists if they did not revise their recent
re-affirmation of the 12-point understanding. The Home
Ministry has ordered security in and around the Kathmandu
Valley to be strengthened, and requested motorcyclists to
ride solo and be subject to inspections of parcels. End
Summary.

UML URGES CEASE-FIRE
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2. (C) K.P. Oli, Central Committee Member of the UML, told
Emboff that his party had urged the Maoists to declare a
cease-fire, but the Maoists were "not agreeing to it." Oli
reported that Maoist leaders said that if the Maoists
declared a unilateral cease-fire, then it would be easy for
the RNA to go after and attempt to kill Maoist cadre. Oli
opined that if the Maoists declared a unilateral cease-fire
it would be easier for the seven-party alliance and the
international community to pressure HMGN to reciprocate the
cease-fire. He added that a Maoist cease-fire could "open a
door" for dialogue between the "three political powers,"
meaning the King, Parties, and Maoists.

MAOIST BOMBS IN KATHMANDU AND NEPALGUNJ
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3. (U) On March 25, Maoists exploded a bomb at a house owned
by the Assistant Minister for General Administration inside
Kathmandu's Ring Road, within several hundred yards of the
Embassy compound; no injuries were reported. Maoist suspects
threw a bomb over the wall of the residential compound,
damaging a van parked inside and shattering windowpanes of
the house and neighboring residences. Police sources
reported that two suspects (one male and one female) arrived
by taxi and departed after throwing the bomb. (Embassy staff
was alerted within a half an hour of the incident via post
radio network.) Maoists detonated another bomb on March 26
at the Mahendra Multiple Campus in Nepalgunj (western Nepal)
while classes and examinations were being conducted; there
were no reports of injuries.

TWO POLISH TREKKERS KIDNAPPED NEAR GATEWAY TO EVEREST REGION
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4. (C) On March 26 Maoists kidnapped two Polish citizens in a
small town northeast of Jiri and southwest of the eastern
city of Lukla and released the pair on March 27. (Note:
Jiri is known to be an area with a heavy Maoist presence.
Lukla is the traditional starting point for treks into the
Everest region and home to an airport that is very busy with
trekkers flying in and out in the spring and fall trekking
seasons. End Note.) On March 26 the two Polish trekkers
called Bharat Ghimire of the Nepal Esperanto Association
(NEA) to report the Maoists were taking them to an unknown
destination and requested assistance from the Polish Embassy.
In the afternoon of March 27, a lodge owner in Lukla called
the US Embassy Consular Section to report that the Maoists

had released, unharmed, the two Polish citizens and the two
were staying at his lodge. The lodge owner reported that the
Maoists had demanded the two trekkers pay a 5000 Nepali Rupee
(USD 70) "revolutionary tax." When the two refused, the
Maoists held them overnight. The lodge owner said the two
Poles paid the 5000 Rupees "tax" on March 27 and the Maoists
released them.

RNA REPORTEDLY GETS ROUGH WITH CIVILIANS IN WESTERN NEPAL
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5. (C) News reports claim that RNA soldiers "manhandled" and
"terrorized" "more than 100" local residents in Imaliya
Village, Kanchanpur District (western Nepal) from March 22 to
25 because the villagers allegedly had provided food and
shelter to Maoists. The RNA actions against civilians began
after the Maoists reportedly killed an RNA soldier on leave
in a village near Imaliya on March 22. The RNA announced it
had formed a committee to investigate the incident. A source
with the human rights organization Informal Sector Service
Center (INSEC) claimed that pressure from civil society had
caused the RNA to form the committee and that its very
formation meant that the RNA had acknowledged that RNA
soldiers had committed wrongdoing. The source noted that
forming an investigative committee was a positive step.

HOME MINISTER WARNS PARTIES ABOUT BEING LABELED TERRORISTS
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6. (U) Speaking on March 24, Home Minister Kamal Thapa
reportedly warned the seven-party alliance that HMGN would
treat the Parties "on par with the Maoists" if the Parties
did not revise the recent "second edition" of the
Maoist-Party 12-point understanding (reftel). Thapa
cautioned that separate statements issued by the Parties and
Maoists re-affirming the 12-point understanding made it clear
the Party-Maoist movement was "not only a movement of the
seven-party alliance but also of the Maoists" and that the
"government would act accordingly." He urged the Parties to
save the country from a possible disaster by revising the
understanding and "correcting this serious mistake."
Minendra Rijal, spokesperson for the Nepali
Congress-Democratic, countered by reportedly accusing HMGN of
pushing the country toward further violence by creating
confusion about the understanding. In a newspaper interview,
Acting UML General Secretary Amrit Kumar Bohora said "the
so-called accusation of us being terrorists does not bear any
meaning."

HMGN TOUGHENS SECURITY IN KATHMANDU VALLEY
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7. (U) According to news reports, the Home Ministry ordered
the strengthening of security within the Kathmandu Valley on
March 25 "considering the possibility of infiltration by the
terrorist group (Maoists)." The Home Ministry has requested
that security forces conduct thorough checks of all
passengers and vehicles at the key highway entry points into
the Kathmandu Valley. HMGN has requested motorcyclists to
avoid carrying any passengers on their motorbikes and to be
prepared to have any luggage or parcels searched. The
motorcycle "requests" will reportedly be lifted on April 13
after the Parties planned April 8 demonstrations.

COMMENT
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8. (C) The UML's public call for a cease-fire is welcome and
is further notice that Maoist violence for political ends is
unacceptable. The bombs inside Kathmandu's Ring Road and in
Nepalgunj continue the Maoist strategy of spreading fear in
Nepal's cities. The reports of RNA abuse of civilians are
disturbing, and are another example of the average Nepali
citizen being increasingly squeezed between the Maoists and
RNA. Home Minister Thapa's "warning" is likely more rhetoric
than an announcement of any permanent HMGN action against the
Parties, but puts the Parties and the public on notice that

the government plans to act to prevent the planned April 8
demonstrations. We are likely to see increased security and
perhaps more curfews in the days leading up to the Parties'
demonstrations planned for April 8.
MORIARTY