MEDIA REACTION: PDAS MOON'S VISIT AND DEALING WITH THE MAOISTS

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000057



SIPDIS



STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: PDAS MOON'S VISIT AND DEALING

WITH THE MAOISTS



1. SUMMARY: Nepal's popular English daily The

Kathmandu Post (circulation: 30,000) on Friday,

January 22, published an editorial titled "Fair

Deal" which commends the "nuanced U.S. position on

the rights abuses during the time of insurgency."

According to the editorial, "the U.S. stance towards

Nepal is in keeping with the Obama administration's

policy of rapprochement towards any side, state or

non-state actors, willing to come to the negotiating

table. This is evident in its policy shift towards a

more diplomatic approach, even with disagreeable

regimes."



2. EXCERPTS: "At the end of his four-day Nepal

stay, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for

South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon seemed

to be hitting all the right notes. While he

reiterated the need for flexibility and compromises

on the part of the political parties to draft the

constitution by the May 28 deadline, Moon put equal

onus on the Maoist and non-Maoist actors. More

significantly, Moon spoke of his talks with Maoist

Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal where the two discussed,

among other things, removal of Maoists from the U.S.

terrorist list and the clear steps the US would like

to see the Maoists take towards that goal. In doing

so, he left open channels for future dialogue

between the U.S. and the Maoists."



3. "We welcome the willingness of the U.S. to

engage the Maoists, an important actor in the peace

process and without whose cooperation, as the U.S.

seems to have understood, neither can the

constitution be drafted on time, nor the peace

process taken to a logical conclusion. The nuanced

U.S. position on the rights abuses during the time

of insurgency was evident as Moon called upon both

Nepal Army and the Maoists to address the cases of

rights abuses from the insurgency years."



4. "...The U.S. stance towards Nepal is in keeping

with the Obama administration's policy of

rapprochement towards any side, state or non-state

actors, willing to come to the negotiating table.

This is evident in its policy shift towards a more

diplomatic approach, even with disagreeable regimes.

Whether there has been a shift in its Nepal policy

or not, we believe mending the frayed ties with the

Nepali Maoists will stand the U.S. in good stead for

future engagement with both the Maoist party as well

as any future Nepali government."



ORDWAY