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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- -------------- ¶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 -------------- -------------- ¶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 -------------- -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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