Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KATHMANDU1572
2007-08-20 11:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: MAOIST LETTER TO AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR NEW

Tags:  PTER PHUM KDEM KSEC NP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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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
-----------------------------------

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