NEPAL: MAOIST LETTER TO AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001572 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2017 TAGS: PTER PHUM KDEM KSEC NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST LETTER TO AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR NEW RELATIONSHIP Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Maoist Letter to Ambassador Powell -------------- ¶1. (C) On August 20, the Ambassador received a letter from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) leader Krishna Mahara in his capacity as a Central Committee member. Mahara also serves as Nepal's Minister of Information and Communications, but wrote only in his party capacity. The two-page letter, which a Nepali pastor provided to the Political-Economic Chief, attempted to explain why the Maoists launched the "People's War," and addressed a number of specific issues regarding the United States. These included the attack by the Maoist Young Communist League on Ambassador Moriarty's vehicle in May 2007, the killing during the insurgency of two Nepali guards employed by the U.S., and the allegation in March 2007 by the Maoists of a royalist threat to kill U.S. officials. Mahara acknowledged the Maoist failure to meet U.S. "expectations" and listed the party's goals as "multiparty democracy, human rights and full religious freedom." He concluded by indicating that the Maoists were "always willing to talk to U.S. government officials at any level and in any place." Origin of the Letter -------------- ¶2. (C) While the immediate reason for the letter's production is the Ambassador's arrival, it has been several months in the making. It was transmitted via Dr. K.B. Rokaya, a Pol/Econ contact, who is a long-time friend of Maoist no. 2 Baburam Bhattarai. Rokaya has served as a channel for earlier contacts with the Maoists on security issues. Text of the Letter -------------- ¶3. (C) Begin Text Ambassador Nancy Powell U.S. Embassy Kathmandu, Nepal August 14, 2007 Dear Ambassador Powell, Namaste, and welcome to Nepal. It is our sincere desire that your tenure in Nepal will be satisfying and productive. We hope that during your time of service here you will see substantial changes towards peace and justice across our land. We are very hopeful that with your arrival there will be a new beginning in the relationship between the U.S. Government and CPN-M. We feel that it was unfortunate that a dialogue between us was not obtained with your predecessor. ;As for the past, on February 13, 1996 after we had exhausted every avenue we knew of to bring about a substantial change to the Nepal Government, we organized a revolution against a corrupt Monarchy. The Brahmin Hindu politicians and government leaders had been uncaring of the plight of the common people. An understanding of the fate of the common Nepali people has been clearly pointed out by Professor Dor Bahadur Bista in his book "Fatalism & Development". He shows how Nepal has little future while it is ruled by Brahmin Hindu teaching. Incidentally, for writing and saying such things, he paid for it when in 1995 he disappeared from a bus coming from West Nepal in the middle of the night. I would like to point out, that even though the revolution is substantially over, still the Congress Party and others refused to change the constitution to allow individuals to freely choose their own religion. This is just one point KATHMANDU 00001572 002 OF 003 that indicates that we must continue to be vigilant and strong. Our goal is to see the Monarchy completely removed from Nepal. Otherwise, our country will continue to be governed by corrupt politicians, who according to their Hindu teaching, are deserving of all the fruits of the land. May I mention that we are aware that we have not been able to meet all of the expectations that your predecessor had. However, after 10 years of warfare to change everything and everyone in such a diverse and widespread organization is not easy and takes time. (The paragraph beginning "May I" is repeated.) For instance, not long ago, a few YCL cadres took it upon themselves to pelt Ambassador Moriarty's vehicle with rocks. This was an embarrassing event for our organization. These cadres were neither instructed to do so, nor did we expect this action to come from our people. Nevertheless, it did. Please accept our apologies. During the Revolution we found ourselves faced with many difficult situations. One of them was when we discovered that two U.S. Embassy employees were seeking to collect information about the CPN-M leadership. Whether they were doing this of their own accord, or whether it was at the instigation of pro-Monarchy forces we do not know. However, since we were at war, the situation seemed to be very serious. At the time, we felt that their spying on the Maoist leadership had to be curtailed and they were killed by the CPNM cadres. Perhaps this incident was seen to be an attack on the U.S. Government, but that was not the case. We are sorry that you lost two of your employees in such a manner and I wanted to enlighten you on the circumstances that led to it. Let me assure you that such an incident will not be repeated in the future. We have very strictly instructed out cadres that under no circumstances are any U.S. citizens or Nepalese working at the U.S. Embassy to be targeted. Consequently, I was greatly alarmed this Spring when our party received information from a reliable intelligence source. We were informed of a Palace plan to kill high level U.S. Embassy officials and have it blamed on CPN-M cadres. The Palace is adept at disseminating false stories about CPN-M and I knew that if this plot were successfully carried out it would be impossible for us (to) prove that we were not involved. Such an event would have greatly strengthened the pro-Monarchy forces and, not to mention the tragic loss of life, could have been a great set-back for the revolution. It is difficult for us to give more precise information about the incident without disclosing the identity of our intelligence source. To doubly insure that such a tragedy did not occur, we immediately gave strict instructions to our cadres not to harm any U.S. citizens or U.S. Embassy officials. In closing, may I say that the CPN-M Party goals remain committed to multiparty democracy, human rights and full religious freedom. As we proceed towards that goal, we want to develop a good diplomatic relationship with the US. In that regards, the CPN-M is always willing to talk to U.S. government officials at any level and in any place. Again, Ambassador Powell, a warm welcome to Nepal. Sincerely Yours, Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara Member of Central Committee, CPN-M Kathmandu, Nepal End Text Comment -------------- KATHMANDU 00001572 003 OF 003 ¶4. (C) The Mahara letter represents the first formal communication by the Maoists with the U.S. Embassy in several years. It appears to be largely motivated by a Maoist desire to take advantage of the Ambassador's arrival to make a new beginning in the U.S.-Maoist relationship. Post will review August 21 and provide recommendations for a response. POWELL