VZCZCXRO8515
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCI #0114 0991229
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091229Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1491
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1407
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0611
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0617
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0398
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0392
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0168
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0319
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDHP/DIA DHP-1 WASHINGTON DC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1839

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER PHUM CASC IN
SUBJECT: ASSAM: ULFA BLAST DURING PM VISIT. PROSPECT OF PEACE TALKS 
LOW 
 
REF: KOLKATA 000084 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On April 8, a bomb carried by boys working 
for the secessionist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) 
accidentally detonated earlier than planned and killed one 
person in Guwahati, Assam.  The explosion took place during 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's April 8-9 to the state.  Earlier 
in the month, another ULFA attack, which injured 15 people, 
preceded a statewide strike organized by the wives of missing 
ULFA militants against alleged police atrocities. The attacks by 
ULFA are intended to put pressure on the GOI to hold talks with 
the group on the issue of Assam's sovereignty.  Assam Chief 
Minister Tarun Gogoi has expressed his willingness to hold talks 
without preconditions, but not on the sovereignty issue, and a 
resolution appears unlikely. End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On April 8, an explosion killed one person in Guwahati, 
Assam, shortly before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was 
scheduled to address a gathering and lay the foundation stone 
for a second bridge over the Brahmaputra river.  The blast 
occurred within 10 kilometers of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, where the 
Prime Minster was scheduled to speak.  Police said that two boys 
were carrying the explosives on a motorcycle when they hit  a 
speed bump.  The boys lost control of the cycle and fell, 
detonating the bomb.  In response to the bomb, the Assam state 
government has sounded an alert in Upper Assam, as the Prime 
Minister is scheduled to visit the city of Dibrugarh on April 9 
to lay the foundation stone of the Assam Gas Cracker Project. 
A senior police official told Post that ULFA was responsible for 
the attack, and is trying to pressure the government to hold 
talks on the sovereignty of Assam.  He said that a number of 
explosives have been recovered by the police over the past few 
days. 
 
¶3. (U) On April 3, a grenade blast in a busy marketplace in 
Guwahati injured 15 people. Police also discovered another bomb 
inside the Army Supply Corps base at Bhalukmora on the border 
between Jorhat and Golaghat districts.   Improvised explosive 
devices and other explosives were also found in a rice paddy 
field at Sutagaon in Jorhat district.  The April 3 attack 
occurred on the eve of a 12-hour statewide bandh (strike) called 
by ULFA to protest alleged police atrocities committed against 
the wives of ULFA members missing since the December 2003 Bhutan 
military operations against ULFA's bases in Bhutan.  Six women 
have been on a "fast-unto-death" hunger strike since March 21 
demanding information on their husbands' whereabouts.  On March 
30, Assam police took the women into custody on charges of 
attempt to commit suicide and admitted them into a hospital for 
medical care. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, on March 29, turned 
down a plea organized by the People's Committee for Peace 
Initiatives for talks with ULFA on sovereignty or a plebiscite 
on the issue.  Gogoi was also sent a copy of a memorandum 
suggesting a plebiscite on the future of Assam addressed to the 
President of India by wives of missing ULFA leaders.  Gogoi said 
that Delhi was ready to hold unconditional talks with the ULFA, 
but there was no point discussing the sovereignty issue as no 
government could concede to such a demand.  On March 30, ULFA 
ruled out unconditional talks with the government, saying its 
cadres had reached the stage of conducting attacks with bombs 
attached to their bodies.  ULFA Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa 
warned that the situation would turn violent if issues of 
identity, nationality and birthrights were not taken seriously, 
and complained that the Gogoi was reduced to parroting the GOI 
line.  However, on March 31, the Assam government renewed its 
plea to ULFA to come forward for negotiations without 
preconditions. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Despite Indian Army and paramilitary 
operations, ULFA's campaign of violence and extortion in Assam 
continues.   Some members of the Assam Police have complained 
that they are unable to tackle ULFA because of confusing signals 
from their political leadership - calls to bring ULFA to the 
negotiating table mixed with promises to "crack down" on the 
group.  In addition, rumors of high-level corruption and of 
"important people" placating ULFA are complicating the situation 
further.  End Comment. 
 
JARDINE