VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKT #3253/01 3540841
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 200841Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4240
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5157
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 5425
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0596
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 3424
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 4788
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0705
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2256
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 003253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PTER MARR PREF CASC UN BT NP
SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER TAKES FIRM STAND ON ARMS 
MANAGEMENT, MAOIST PRESSURE 
 
REF: SECSTATE 179582 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Nicholas J. Dean.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Prime Minister GP Koirala, who was recovering from a 
cold, stressed to the Ambassador December 20 that he would 
not permit the Maoists to enter the interim government until 
arms management was complete.  He confirmed, however, that he 
had agreed to promulgate the interim constitution and stand 
the interim parliament up with Maoist participation once UN 
monitoring of Maoist combatants and separation of their arms 
began.  Koirala, who was joined by his Foreign Policy Advisor 
Dr. Chalise, was not pleased by the Maoist declaration 
December 19 of a nationwide strike in response to the 
Government of Nepal's nomination of ambassadors and human 
rights commissioners, but he did not seem overly concerned. 
The Prime Minister indicated the GON would not back down on 
the nominations.  The Ambassador urged the GON to get its 
message out and asked the PM when the GON intended to 
reestablish law and order.  He cited recent Maoist extortion 
of American citizens.  At the conclusion, the Ambassador 
handed over the original of a letter from Assistant Secretary 
of State for Population, Refugees and Migration on Tibetan 
refugees (reftel).  He also urged the Prime Minister to move 
ahead on resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. 
 
Koirala Ailing But Getting Better -- Slowly 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador began his December 20 meeting with 
Prime Minister GP Koirala by asking after his health.  The 
Prime Minister admitted he had not been feeling well.  He was 
still recovering from a cold and the process was taking time. 
 The Ambassador asked if his condition was like it had been 
in the spring of 2006 when the Prime Minister was often 
incapacitated, and the Prime Minister confirmed that was the 
case.  Koirala volunteered that he was having trouble 
breathing properly and had to take oxygen when he went up the 
stairs and when he came down.  The Ambassador responded that 
we and the whole country of Nepal were praying for him. 
 
Maoists In Interim Government Only After Arms Management 
Complete 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶3. (C) The Prime Minister confirmed to the Ambassador that he 
had held firm in negotiations over the interim constitution 
that concluded on December 16 that the Maoists would not be 
permitted to join the interim government until the UN had 
completed the process of cantonment of Maoist combatants and 
separation of their arms.  The Ambassador congratulated him 
on his strong stand.  Koirala added, however, that he had 
agreed to promulgate the interim constitution once the UN 
process of arms monitoring commenced.  The establishment of 
the interim parliament would follow immediately thereafter. 
That would mean, his Foreign Policy Advisor Dr. Chalise 
confirmed, that the Maoists would be in the interim 
parliament while the process of arms management was still 
going on.  The Prime Minister was insistent, however, that 
the Maoists would not be allowed into the interim government 
until the arms management process was complete and the 
Maoists knew that. 
 
Maoist Transportation Strike 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Although he was not pleased, the Prime Minister did 
not seem overly concerned by the nationwide transportation 
strike that the Maoists had declared on December 19.  Koirala 
was adamant that he did not intend to reverse the Cabinet's 
December 18 decision to nominate fourteen Ambassadors 
(including Dr. Chalise as Ambassador to the U.S.) as well as 
four members of the National Human Rights Commission.  The PM 
said he had told the Maoists prior to the Cabinet decision 
that they would be given several Embassies once they joined 
the interim government.  This was a case, he stated, of the 
Maoists flexing their muscles.  The Ambassador said this was 
 
to be expected. 
 
Ongoing Maoist Abuses; Law and Order 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (C) The Ambassador encouraged the GON to get its message 
out.  The Government was fulfilling its obligations under the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Maoists were not.  They 
were still recruiting new and underage Nepalis into their 
People's Liberation Army (PLA).  The Prime Minister replied 
that the United Nations had made it clear that it would not 
register the new recruits and children would not be 
registered as combatants.  The Ambassador responded that that 
was fine, but the Government needed to say publicly every 
other day to these new recruits and children that they would 
not be registered, paid or given Government jobs; they needed 
to return to their villages.  Dr. Chalise conceded that the 
GON had been overly defensive.  The Ambassador asked when the 
GON intended to start enforcing law and order.  The Prime 
Minister and Chalise emphasized that the Government was 
re-establishing police posts.  The Ambassador cited the case 
of several Americans in Kathmandu who had faced Maoist 
extortion demands the week of December 11.  The PM said those 
cases would be investigated.  In response to a question from 
the Ambassador on how the U.S. could help, the Prime Minister 
promised to let us know. 
 
Tibetan and Bhutanese Refugees 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) The Ambassador handed over the original of a letter 
conveyed earlier from Assistant Secretary for Population, 
Refugees and Migration Sauerbrey requesting the Prime 
Minister's assistance with Tibetan refugees (reftel).  Dr. 
Chalise said that he would look it over and discuss it with 
the Prime Minister.  The Ambassador also took the opportunity 
to urge the Prime Minister to move ahead on third-country 
resettlement of Bhutanese refugees.  The United States, the 
Ambassador said, was aware of Foreign Minister Oli's concern 
about holding a summit meeting with his Bhutanese counterpart 
in Thimpu on this issue when the Nepali government was about 
to change.  The Ambassador emphasized, however, that it also 
did not make sense to wait until the meeting (which was 
planned for November and then postponed to December) was 
rescheduled.  The Prime Minister did not respond. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (C) It was good to hear from the Prime Minister himself 
that he has no intention of allowing the Maoists into the 
interim government until the UN has completed the arms 
management process.  Nevertheless, the Maoists will continue 
to probe for ways to undermine the PM's firm stand.  Post 
will push the GON and UN Secretary General's personal 
representative Ian Martin and his team to not allow the 
arrival of a few arms monitors (possibly before the end of 
December) or the hiring of ex-Gurkhas to serve as a 
sufficient basis for hasty promulgation of the interim 
constitution.  The new constitution should not be promulgated 
until all 35 of the initial group of UN arms monitors are on 
the ground.  All of the 21 satellite PLA camps will also have 
to be agreed upon.  It was encouraging as well to learn that 
Koirala does not intend to back down on nominations of senior 
officials in the face of Maoist pressure tactics.  As the 
Prime Minister himself said, the Maoists do not have the 
strength they claim to have and will face considerable 
animosity, particularly in the countryside, as soon as 
Nepalis feel free enough to express their true opinions. 
DEAN