This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001282 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC PGOV PREL KMDR NP
SUBJECT: WEEKLY NEPAL MEDIA REPORT: JULY 1 - 7, 2003 
 
-  STATE FOR NP, AC, PM 
-  STATE FOR IN/R/MR 
-  STATE FOR SA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
-  STATE FOR SA/PPD 
 
 ¶1.  POLITICAL AFFAIRS 
 
 -- Ten left parties for new constitution: Ten left 
 parties demanded (7/6) for a new constitution as the 
 only way out of the present political crisis.  (Media 
 reports, 7/7) 
 
 -- U.S. Ambassador against Maoists: Although the U.S. 
 has not formally exhibited any activities against the 
 government-Maoists peace talks process, it is 
 continuing to pressure the government not to give any 
 special concessions to the Maoists.  U.S. Ambassador 
 Michael Malinowski in a formal meeting with Prime 
 Minister Thapa expressed the concern that concessions 
to the Maoists would be highly counterproductive.  The 
U.S. has expressed objection to the government-Maoists 
agreement of restricting the movement of the army 
within five kilometers of the barracks.  The inclusion 
of the Maoists by America on its terrorist watch list 
hinted that it preferred a repressive course on the 
Maoists.  The diplomatic community is saying that 
America is about to put the Maoists on the real 
terrorist list by accusing them of murders, abductions, 
extortion, etc.  The Maoists, too, have become ignited 
against the Americans in recent days. (leftist 
"Sanghu," V/W, 7/7) 
 
-- Five parties come up with new agenda: Five political 
parties incorporated secularism and abrogation of the 
Raj Sabha Standing Committee (king's advisory council) 
as their major demands in order to retrieve the country 
off the current political crisis.  The other salient 
points of the agenda are: clip the wings of the king; 
restructure National Assembly; limit His/Her Majesty 
titles to the king, queen and crown prince; have a new 
national anthem; and make public royal assets. (Media 
reports, 7/6) 
 
-- "UML is again on the brink of being split." 
(centrist "Naya Kiran," V/W, 7/4) 
 
-- Information Minister says government for polls at 
earliest: The government is committed to holding 
elections at the earliest, Information Minister and 
government spokesperson Kamal Thapa said (7/4). (pro- 
India "Himalayan Times," E/D, 7/5) 
 
-- King less powerful now: The king is in maze". He has 
closed all the doors by himself". The king has become 
constitutional now and won't interfere in the 
government's work.  Legally, he won't be able to oust 
Thapa and appoint a new prime minister. (centrist 
"Ghatana Ra Bichar," V/W, 7/2) 
 
-- Government employees to continue running local 
bodies: The government decided (6/30) to run the local 
bodies through government employees for the next one 
year. (centrist "Kathmandu Post," E/D, 7/1) 
 
PEACE TALKS 
 
-- Governments urges Maoists for talks: There are some 
"unclear and controversial" issues stalling the 
resumption of talks, the government's spokesperson said 
and called on the Maoists to come to the negotiating 
table "unconditionally". ("The Himalayan Times," 7/5) 
 
-- Maoists, government meet: The government and Maoist 
talks teams held an informal meeting at an undisclosed 
location in Kathmandu on Thursday (7/3) morning.  The 
meeting, however, could not reach any agreement. ("The 
Himalayan Times," 7/4) 
 
-- Arms cache recovered in Bangladesh: Shipment 
believed to be destined for Nepal's rebels: Bangladesh 
security agencies seized 180 kg of explosives and 
93,192 bullets allegedly meant for Nepal's Maoists in 
different parts of the country over the past few days. 
At least, six persons have been arrested so far. This 
is the first instance of Bangladeshi territories and 
it 
s citizens being used as conduits for supplying arms 
and ammunitions to Nepal's rebels. ("The Kathmandu 
Post," 7/4) 
¶2.  STUDENT UNREST 
-- Schools reopen: The indefinite strike declared by 
the organizations of private and boarding schools was 
lifted today (7/2), following an agreement between the 
government, agitating student unions, and private 
school bodies. (Media reports, 7/3) 
 
-- Schools shutdown: Over 8,500 schools began an 
indefinite shut down from (6/30) as the group of seven 
student organizations and the associations of private 
and boarding schools refused to budge from their 
respective demands. (Media reports, 7/1) 
¶3.  NEPAL-U.S. 
 
-- Nepali troops for Iraq: The government is holding 
discussions following a request from the United States 
Central Command, asking for Nepali troops in its 
peacekeeping mission in Iraq, the Minister of 
Information and Communications said.  He hinted that 
the number of Nepali troops would be somewhere between 
800 and 1,000. ("The Kathmandu Post," 7/5) 
 
-- USAID grant for strengthening rule of law: The USAID 
has granted Nepal 7.5 million dollars to support 
initiatives for strengthening the rule of law, 
enhancing access to justice and advancing 
accountability and anti-corruption initiatives over the 
next three years.  Dr. Madhav Prasad Ghimire, joint 
secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Wendy 
 
SIPDIS 
Chamberlin, head of USAID for Asia and the Near East, 
signed the agreement on 7/3. (Media reports, 7/4) 
 
-- The garment fatwa: "In withdrawing support from the 
Nepali garment industry and boycotting tourism, our 
American remonstrators seem to have forgotten the 
social problems that similarly draconian measures have 
brought to the South Asian region in the past.  While 
their proposals may appease personal egos, they are 
counter-productive when fighting injustice.  The 
scandal surrounding the Harkin bill of 1994 in 
Bangladesh is illustrative in this regard." (Opinion in 
centrist "Nepali Times, E/W, 7/4.  For full article, go 
to http://www.nepalnews.com/ntimes/issue152/) 
 
-- Senator's decision childish: "It was a childish 
reaction of the U.S. Senator, who withdrew a bill 
granting duty privileges to Nepali garments, because 
the Nepali government deported some Tibetans". You'd 
think that somebody of the stature of a U.S. Senator 
would be magnanimous." (Letter to editor in "Himalayan 
Times," 7/1) 
¶4.  OTHERS 
 
-- UNESCO puts Kathmandu Valley on the danger list: The 
Kathmandu Valley has been put on the List of World 
Heritage in Danger (LWHD) by UNESCO, posing a threat to 
Nepal's tourism industry and exposing the inefficiency 
and callousness of the government to conserve the 
medieval monuments in the capital city. (Media reports, 
7/7) 
 
-- 94 percent refugees appeal against JVT report: 
Around 94 percent of the Bhutanese refugees languishing 
in Khudunabari camp filed appeals to the office of the 
Nepal-Bhutan Joint Verification Team (JVT), challenging 
its verification report made public on June 18. (Media 
reports, 7/4) 
 
MALINOWSKI