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