Sunday, January 30, 2005

Bhutan's king says Nepal insurgency threatens to escala


Sun Jan 30,12:03 AM ET

South Asia - AFP

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Bhutan's king has warned there is a "real threat" of the Maoist revolt in Nepal escalating out of control, adding it could have "negative implications" for both India and his country, reports said.

Photo
AFP/File Photo


"We sincerely hope ... some initiatives will be taken by the political parties in Nepal to resolve the Maoist problem," said King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the Press Trust of India (news - web sites) quoted him as saying on Saturday.

The king, who left Saturday for home after a six-day official visit to India, said the situation in Nepal was "deteriorating day-by-day," adding, "Today the Maoists have total control more or less of the whole country."

Political analysts in Nepal estimate the Maoists control over two-thirds of the impoverished landlocked nation wedged between India and China.

The Bhutanese ruler was speaking to Indian journalists in New Delhi at the close of his visit.

The Maoist rebels have been battling since 1996 to overthrow the constitutional monarchy in Nepal. Violence has been rising in recent months since a pledge by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to hold long-delayed elections if the Maoists failed to agree to resume peace talks by January 13.

The deadline passed with the Maoists rejecting the call for negotiations and vowing to wreck the elections.

The rebels are holding out for talks with King Gyanendra under international mediation focusing on their demand for elections for an assembly that would draft a fresh constitution but authorities have rejected their demands.

The constitution is seen aimed at establishing a communist republic.

"There is a real threat of Maoist situation becoming much more serious than it is today. If this happens, it will have negative implications for both India and Bhutan because we share common borders," Bhutan's king said.

India's ultra leftists have ties with Nepal's Maoists and some Indian commentators have expressed concern the Nepal revolt could spill over the border.

"Each country has a different kind of problem, a different situation. The political parties and people of Nepal have to together solve their own problems in the best possible way." the Bhutanese ruler said.

Over the past few years, the king has been steering his tiny mountain nation of over 700,000 people, once considered the last Shangri-La untouched by the winds of modernisation, toward democracy.

Bhutan, which like Nepal is tucked between India and China, has put together the first draft of a new constitution based on the principles of parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch at the head.

About the Bhutanese army's actions to flush out anti-Indian rebels sheltering on Bhutanese soil, he said "there are no militant camps in any part of Bhutan now. We're trying to ensure that our borders remain secure."

The military drive in 2003 led to dismantling of the 30 militant camps, he said, adding India and Bhutan have agreed they will never allow their territory to be used by anyone for activities harmful for each other's interests.

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Thursday, January 27, 2005

NEPAL


Head of state:
King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev

King Gyanendra ascended the throne in June 2001 soon after then Crown Prince Dipendra gunned down his parents King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya and seven other royals.

The 29-year-old Crown Prince Dipendra ran amok at a family dinner in a drunken and drug-fuelled rage before killing himself.

Nepal's king
King Gyanendra at his enthronement in 2001
King Gyanendra, who was born in 1947, is thought to be a more forceful man than his predecessor.

In 2002 he dismissed a popularly-elected government and assumed executive powers himself.

Educated in India and Nepal, Gyanendra is well known in Nepal for his conservation work. He is also interested in developing the kingdom's tourism potential, and owns a hotel in Kathmandu.

Gyanendra is married and has two children. His youngest son, Paras, who is now the crown prince, leads a controversial lifestyle and has been at the centre of numerous car accident scandals.

Prime minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba

Sacked in 2002 for failing to organise elections or to tackle the Maoist rebellion, Mr Deuba was reinstated by the king in June 2004.

The leader of a breakaway faction of the Nepali Congress, Mr Deuba was tasked with organising elections within a year. His predecessor resigned amid daily street protests.

  • Foreign minister, defence minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba
  • Finance minister, deputy prime minister: Bharat Mohan Adhikari
  • Sphere: Related Content

    Tuesday, January 25, 2005

    Ilam clash: 23 bodies of security forces found, 22 missing

    Bodies of 23 security personnel killed in a Maoist attack near Puwakhola on the Mechi Highway in the eastern district of Ilam Wednesday have been found by Thursday evening while 22 security men are still out of contact. The area is 10 km northeast of the district headquarters, Ilam Bazaar.

    Latest media reports said that 23 dead bodies -17 army men and six policemen - were found at the incident site while five injured security men have been undergoing treatment in Dharan. 22 security men who had gone missing after the incident arrived at the District Police Office this morning.

    Army Captain Upendra Ranabhat is one of the killed. There were altogether 72 security men fighting with hundreds of rebels for nearly three hours.

    Quoting a Maoist brigade commissar, Parwana, reports said no security men were in Maoist captivity.

    Six Maoists have been confirmed dead in the clash. Quoting eyewitnesses, reports said that the rebels took away at least four bodies with them while two bodies were found buried nearby the incident site. However, the actual casualty on the Maoist side is not known.

    Human rights activists who visited the area this afternoon said they saw dozens of socket bombs and bullets strewn around the site, reports said. Following the clash, schools have been closed down while fear-stricken villagers have not dared to come out of their homes.

    The Maoists had launched a sudden attack on security forces en route to Puwakhoka to clear the barriers laid (by the rebels) on the highway since last three days.

    Search operation continues in and around Puwakhola. nepalnews.com mbk Jan 20 05 Sphere: Related Content

    Monday, January 24, 2005

    International News Article | "They beat me with rifle butts and kicked me, and forced me to flee,"

    by Simon Denyer

    KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nawa Raj Joshi was a teacher for more than 30 years in a small village in western Nepal, until one day Maoist rebels decided they didn't like his politics.

    "They beat me with rifle butts and kicked me, and forced me to flee," he said. "But my wife and two sons were not allowed to leave."

    A few years later, the rebels came back, this time for his son. "They asked him to accompany them, and he couldn't say no. We think they are trying to force him to join them."

    Joshi's story is an every-day one in the Himalayan kingdom, where an increasingly ugly civil war is playing out against some of the world's most stunning mountain scenery.

    This month, the conflict, which has already killed more than 11,000 people, took another turn for the worse, with both government and rebels bracing for further violent confrontation.

    Last Thursday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba turned up the heat on the Maoists by announcing plans to push ahead with elections they oppose and at the same time intensify a crackdown.

    The Maoists have vowed to "shatter" the vote, and are thought to be planning a major attack against the government to underline their point and mark the ninth anniversary of the start of their struggle in February, according to Nepal's army.

    Most worrying, is the state's utter inability to unite in the face of the Maoist threat. Political parties spend most of their time squabbling among themselves or with the autocratic and increasingly unpopular king, who has dismissed three governments in the past two years.

    "The country is sliding off the edge of a cliff," said Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times weekly. "The political forces and the monarchy are at each other's throats and, most unfathomably of all, they don't seem to know who the real enemy is."

    To the casual observer, Nepal's war seem strangely low-key. Tourists still come in their tens of thousands, though fewer than before, and have never been targeted. Kathmandu itself seems peaceful and safe to outsiders -- but not necessarily for locals.

    Rights groups say hundreds of suspected Maoist sympathizers "disappear" every year into notorious army or police detention centers. Maoists tend to simply kill their opponents.

    But the outside world is gradually being forced to wake up to the war, looking on with increasing frustration and concern.

    A FAILING STATE?

    Giant neighbor India knows well the risks of a failed state on its porous borders and is stepping up support for the Nepali army, as well as efforts to arrest Maoist leaders on its soil.

    The United States and European nations are providing more discrete assistance, but are equally determined to prevent a Maoist takeover, not least because of the signal it would send to other rebel movements around the world.

    "We simply don't want to see an old fashioned Communist dictatorship taking over in the 21st century," one diplomat said, defending his country's assistance to an army accused of increasing human rights abuses. "However bad human rights are now, they would be worse under the Maoists."

    In India, concern is mounting about the rebels regional ambitions. They have established formal links with Maoist groups in India and say they aim to set up a "Compact Revolutionary Zone" throughout Nepal and northern and eastern India.

    Rebels in India's troubled northeast are also thought to be supplying the Maoists with arms, says Nepali magazine editor Yubaraj Ghimire.

    "The government of India always seemed to ignore the presence of Nepali Maoists in India, but now they are taking the threat much more seriously."

    But there are other risks, too, not least early signs of fragmentation within the rebel movement itself. Not only is there division between hard-liners and moderates, but there are warning signs that an ideologically driven movement could be gradually turning into an extortion racket.

    "Quite a few Maoist area commanders seem intent on enriching themselves," the diplomat said. "There are incipient signs of warlordism."

    Comparisons with Afghanistan may be premature, but the risks are there for everyone to see. It is possible, although unlikely, foreign terrorist groups could be tempted to hide in an anarchic Nepal. It is easier to imagine Nepali warlords turning the countryside into a giant opium or heroin factory, analysts say.

    Not only that, says Ghimire, but it would be much more difficult for the state to ever negotiate peace with a fractured rebellion or warlords scattered across the country.

    For Nepalis, it could mark their state's final slide toward failure and herald a more protracted era of conflict.


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    UN High Commissioner urges govt., Maoists to sign rights accord

    Visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, has called upon both Nepal government and Maoists to sign the Human Rights Accord (HRA) prepared by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

    Addressing the Conference on Human Rights and Peace organized by the NHRC in Kathmandu Monday, Arbour called upon the Nepal government to fully implement the human rights commitments made by it on 26 March 2004.

    She also called upon the CPN -Maoists to end, immediately, the recruitment of child soldiers and to desist from using children in any way to further their military goals. She also urged them to allow full access to NHRC monitors to all areas under their control.

    Arbour further urged the Nepal government to ensure safety and security of its people in full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law. “The Maoist insurgents, for their part, do not operate in a legal vacuum: they are equally bound under international law,” she added.

    Referring to experiences of conflict-ridden regions around the world, Arbour said injustice fuels violence and violence fuels only greater violence. “One generation’s loss becomes the next generation’s rallying cry. This is particularly true in a country such as Nepal where half of the population is under 18 years of age,” she added.

    Addressing the conference, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba blamed the Maoist insurgents for what he said deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

    The premier said common people were forced to leave their villages because the Maoists were abducting students and teachers from schools in the rural areas. “At a time when the Maoists are killing unarmed civilians and extorting money, human rights is a far-off thing for the Nepali people,” said Deuba. He, however, said that he was fully committed to the human rights commitments made by the previous government.

    The premier said the government was engaged in a serious study of the Human Rights Accord proposed by the NHRC. He also used the occasion to repeat his earlier remarks that the government was left with no other alternative than pushing ahead with general elections ‘to activate the constitution and restore peace in the country’ after the Maoists refused to resume peace talks even after repeated requests by the government.

    Addressing the conference, chairman of NHRC, Nayan Bahadur Khatri, said on the one hand the Maoists clearly consider themselves beyond the law of the land in justifying their violent activities, while on the other hand, the security forces have also been found to be involved in human rights violations. “Of major concern is the growing number of disappearances of civilians and the lack of information on those who have been held in incommunicado detention,” said Khatri.

    The NHRC chairman said the derailment of the democratic process has further undermined the rule of law, and consequently, resulted in the development of a culture of fear and insecurity, widespread impunity, and the worsening of the human rights situation. He also called upon the government and rebels to sign on the Human Rights Accord prepared by the NHRC and said it would constitute a step forward in building confidence between the parties and opening the way for ceasefire and negotiations.

    The two-day conference will discuss the role of human rights organization in peace building, upholding people’s fundamental rights to resolve the conflict, interrelationship between human rights and peace, and the role of NHRC, among others. nepalnews.com by Jan 24 05

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    Seven Maoists killed in army operations in southwestern Nepal

    Sun Jan 23, 5:40 AM ET

    KATHMANDU (AFP) - Seven alleged Maoist rebels were killed by soldiers in the southwest corner of the Himalayan kingdom in weekend clashes, according to a statement from the Royal Nepal Army.

    Photo
    AFP/File Photo

    No soldiers were killed or injured, the army said.

    "Seven Maoists, including four women, were killed in a clash with the security forces at Lambiphant in Kailali district on Saturday," the press release said. The area is about 450 kilometers (281 miles) west of the capital of Kathmandu.

    "The exchange of fire between the army and the rebels lasted for about an hour on Saturday," it said on Sunday.

    The army has been continuing its "Kailali Search Operation" since January 19 in the areas, it said.

    The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and the uprising has so far claimed more than 11,000 lives.


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    Saturday, January 22, 2005

    Maoists abduct 500 youths in Nepal - Sify.com

    Saturday, 22 January , 2005, 00:25

    Kathmandu: As many as 500 youths returning home after working in Indian territory have been abducted by the Maoists rebels in the Achham district of Western Nepal, media reports said on Friday.

    The abducted youths hailing from various villages of the district have been confined in rural dwellings of Kantipur district. Maoists have put restrictions on the youths to go out of the villages, reports quoting local people said.

    Earlier, the Maoists rebels had reportedly abducted more than 200 students and teachers from three different schools of the eastern district of Ramechhap.

    The Maoists abducted them for political indoctrination programmes, Kantipur radio reported quoting its local reporter. The rebels forcibly took away 13 teachers and 77 students from Setidevi Secondary School in Salukalika village and 12 teachers along with 100 students from Chandeshwori Secondary School in Gothgaun from the class rooms on Thursday, it said.

    The abducted students were studying in classes six to ten. The news of abduction have come at a time when the London-based Amnesty International had urged the government and the Maoists to stop human rights violations and killings of people.

    More than 11,000 people have been killed and hundreds have been abducted since the insurgency began in 1996. Meanwhile, suspected Maoists shot dead a policeman and injured five others in Butwal on Friday.

    The suspected rebels indiscriminately fired at Milanchowk, in the heart of the city. No one has claimed the responsibility for the incident but the police suspect the role of Maoists. Sphere: Related Content

    Friday, January 21, 2005

    BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nepal gay group launches journal

    By Charles Haviland
    BBC News, Kathmandu

    Nepal's only gay rights organisation has launched a weekly newspaper, the first publication here of its kind.

    The Blue Diamond Society (BDS) says that it wants to give a voice to a range of oppressed communities, not just sexual minorities.

    The publication is being funded by the British government.

    A British diplomat told the BBC the funding of the project was part of London's campaign to reduce the impact of HIV and Aids.

    Budget

    The parallel English and Nepali language Blue Diamond Weekly papers are being brought out by BDS, which describes itself as an organisation for sexual minorities, including homosexual, bisexual and trans-gendered people.

    BDS has already raised the profile of these communities in this conservative society and its founder, Sunil Pant, says the new paper will focus on all marginalised groups in Nepal whose voices, he says, are never heard.

    It will look at the human rights of women and children, dalits - or so-called untouchables - and sex workers, as well as sexual minorities, and will focus on HIV and Aids prevention.

    It is being funded by Britain's Department for International Development, which has a budget for small projects like this.

    The British Embassy will administer the grant, which must be spent in line with departmental objectives.

    The British diplomat said the aim was to help people living with Aids, or at risk of it, to lead fulfilled lives and have greater Aids-related risk awareness. Aids, he pointed out, contributed to poverty.
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    Japan Today - News - 23 bodies recovered after clash in Nepal - Japan's Leading International News Network

    Friday, January 21, 2005 at 07:06 JST
    KAHTMANDU — The bodies of 17 soldiers and six policemen were on Thursday recovered from the site of gun battles between government troops and Maoist insurgents in eastern Nepal, state-run Radio Nepal reported.

    Five other members of the security forces were injured in the three-hour firefight Wednesday in Ilam district, about 300 kilometers west of the capital.
    (Kyodo News) Sphere: Related Content

    Wednesday, January 19, 2005

    Rebels, security forces clash in Ilam

    There have been reports of heavy clashes between the Maoist rebels and security forces at Barbote area in the eastern district of Ilam Wednesday.

    According to reports, the clash took place when the Maoists attacked a team of security personnel that was returning to its base after clearing the road obstructions set up by the rebels at Puwakhola along the Mechi highway in eastern Nepal.

    Security sources in Kathmandu confirmed the incident and said skirmishes had taken place Wednesday afternoon. They said they were still awaiting the details.

    Meanwhile, some radio reports have quoted Brigade commissar Parwana of the Maoist’s seventh brigade in Mechi and Koshi zones, as saying that they had lost half a dozen of their comrades during the two-way gun battle. He also claimed that at least 20 security personnel were killed during the clashes and that the rebels were able to seize some automatic weapons from the security personnel.

    The Maoists’ claim is, however, yet to be verified independently.

    Nepal F. M., a Kathmandu-based private radio station, quoted Parwana as saying that at least 20 security personnel were in the Maoist captivity.

    The situation is still unclear but sources in eastern town of Biratnagar have said up to 50 security personnel were out of contact since Wednesday afternoon. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

    The authorities are yet to comment on the incident.

    nepalnews.com by Jan 19 05 Sphere: Related Content

    Monday, January 17, 2005

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
    BBC: Hundreds of rioters burned tyres and hurled stones to protest at the increase in fuel prices by the government in Kathmandu, Nepal.
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    Friday, January 14, 2005

    Nepal plays poll card, all eyes on Maoists

    15 January 2005

    KATHMANDU: Nepal is turning up the heat on Maoist rebels by announcing it will push ahead with polls and at the same time intensify a crackdown on the insurgency.

    Eyes are now turning to the Maoist response. Will the rebels counter with more violence, or will the pressure eventually force them to come to the negotiating table?

    Most commentators see divisions within the movement itself.

    Hardliners are thought to have prevailed at a September plenum and won the go-ahead to pursue a military strategy for at least another six months. Rebels are expected to review that decision at a high-level meeting over the next month or two.

    "The next month is very crucial," said Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of Samay weekly magazine. "We really don't know if the party will extend the hardline approach, or reject it, and say 'now we should try other methods'."

    The hardline approach has had only limited success so far.

    Rebels have demonstrated their power by blockading the capital and closing down businesses simply by issuing threatening statements. But the army says it has foiled plans for major attacks, and inflicted heavy losses on the guerrillas.

    "Their military strength has suffered a serious jolt," said Ghimire. "There is a compulsion before them to come to some kind of understanding."

    The eight-year civil war in the strategic Himalayan nation sandwiched between nuclear giants China and India has killed more than 11,000 people and is poisoning the lives of millions more.

    Diplomats fear the conflict could spiral further out of control if the rebel movement fragments and warlords take over.

    India and the United States are desperate to prevent a takeover by the Maoists, not least because of the encouragement that would give to rebel movements worldwide.

    On Thursday (local time), Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said he would call elections this year and intensify the crackdown.

    But even though the rebels failed to respond to his offer of talks by Thursday's deadline, Deuba said his door remained open and he still hoped they might come to the table soon.

    "I have a report that the pro-dialogue group was defeated in the September Maoist plenum," he said. "The report said that they will go for a strategic offensive up to mid-March.

    "If they succeed, they may come to the table with some sort of victory, and if they are defeated, they will come for negotiations - the pro-dialogue group might emerge."

    Nepal has had no parliament since 2002 and Deuba was appointed directly by King Gyanendra with a mandate to hold elections this year.

    Diplomats and analysts say it would be tough to hold an election if the Maoists stick to their threat to "shatter" the poll. But even an imperfect vote could give the government a degree of legitimacy, and strengthen its hand in any dialogue.

    Ghimire said the best hope was for some kind of back-channel negotiations and a tacit understanding with the Maoists not to disrupt the vote.

    In exchange, he said, the government would have to agree to discuss the Maoists' key demand - the abolition of the monarchy - straight after the vote.

    Former mediator Padma Ratna Tuladhar said the Maoists also wanted the government to agree to foreign mediation, either by the United Nations or a respected independent humanitarian group.

    "I myself can take responsibility to bring them back to the negotiating table if there is any third party involvement," he said.

    So far, that is not something the government or giant neighbour India will agree to, but some say there is a chance Delhi could drop its objections if there was no other option.
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    Thursday, January 13, 2005

    Maoists declare three-day unilateral ceasefire in Rupandehi

    Amid security concerns during the 2nd World Buddhist Summit in Lumbini, Rupandehi district, the CPN (Maoist) Tuesday declared a unilateral ceasefire in the district for three days.

    The Rupandehi District Organisation Committee of the CPN (Maoist) announced this through a statement, which was faxed to local media offices this morning, a Rupandehi-based journalist told Nepalnews over telephone.

    Along with the ceasefire, the Maoists have also withdrawn their two-day bandh (general strike) in the district starting from today coinciding with the Buddhist Summit, the journalist said citing the statement signed by Saroj, the district in-charge of the rebel party.

    Vehicular traffic was slightly affected in the morning but situation became normal as soon the local F.M radios carried the news about the ceasefire. nepalnews.com by/mbk Nov 30 04 Sphere: Related Content

    Wednesday, January 12, 2005

    Maoist area commander killed in security operation

    Security forces gunned down the Saptari district area no 5 commander of the Maoist party Wednesday morning, reports said.

    According to reports, the Maoist area commander, who has been identified as Dambar Yadav alias ‘Sandesh’, was killed in a security operation at Malhaniya of Saptari district today morning.

    However, the Maoist rebels are yet to make any official comment on the news.

    In another incident, a youth has been found dead on the banks of the Bhaluwahi river at ward number 4 of Rajbiraj Municipality. The dead has been identified as Krishna, a local resident.

    nepalnews.com amt Jan 12 05 Sphere: Related Content

    Tuesday, January 11, 2005

    Maoists abduct UML cadres in Palpa

    Maoist rebels abducted five CPN-UML cadres, including two district committee members, of Palpa district on Monday, reports Tuesday said.

    District committee members Buddhi Raj Gautam and Bimala Basistha and three others were abducted from Galda village where they had gone to attend a program of the party. The rebels have not yet clarified the charge on them.

    Meanwhile, the Palpa district committee of the UML in a statement has urged the Maoists to immediately release them, reports said. nepalnews.com mbk Jan 11 05 Sphere: Related Content

    Monday, January 10, 2005

    Two weeks in a leaky boat - Asia Tsunami - www.smh.com.au

    January 11, 2005 - 7:54AM


    An Indonesian man swept out to sea by the Asian tsunami has described how he survived adrift for two weeks, living on coconuts and chancing upon a leaky boat and a raft.

    Ari Afrizal, 21, spoke briefly to reporters today after arriving at a Malaysian port on a container ship that spotted him in the Indian Ocean yesterday, 14 days after the wave tore him from his homeland.

    'I managed to survive as I ate the flesh of old coconuts for about 12 days. For three days I didn't get to eat anything,' he said. 'I gave up all hope of living.'

    Ari, clutching a plastic bag containing the rags that were his clothes at the time of the tsunami, wore a T-shirt and jeans donated by the ship's crew. Exhausted, he gave sketchy details of his ordeal before being taken by ambulance to hospital.

    He said he was with friends building a house in the town of Calang in Aceh province when the wave struck. It pushed them inland before dragging Ari out to sea, clutching a piece of wood.

    Ari said he had chanced upon a small leaking fishing boat on his second day in the water.
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    'The first day I clung to a piece of wood, the second day I retrieved a small fishing boat but it was leaking. I was in the small boat for four days before I managed to get on a raft,' he said.

    Ari said he waved frantically at several ships from the raft without success before the Arab-based Al Yamamah container ship came into view.

    'I managed to whistle at the ship and then waved my hands.

    The ship sped on but it sounded the klaxon and I stood up. I thought the ship had left the area and I sat down and cried. But the ship returned and cheered me up,' he said.

    'I then waved at them as I knew I was safe.'

    Ari is the third Indonesian tsunami survivor to be rescued at sea.

    A pregnant woman was rescued by a Malaysian tuna-fishing boat after clinging to a palm tree for five days. Another man drifted for eight days on an uprooted tree before a cargo ship found him.

    More than 156,000 people were killed by the December 26 tsunami which followed a massive earthquake beneath the sea off Aceh province in the Indonesian archipelago.

    Aceh accounted for almost all of Indonesia's 104,000 deaths.
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    Nepal army claims to have destroyed Maoist arsenal

    KATHMANDU: Two Nepalese army helicopters destroyed a Maoist rebel hideout and arsenal in an aerial attack on a remote jungle gorge in the far west of the country, a senior security official said on Monday.

    “The security forces carried out aerial attacks on a Maoist hideout and arsenal located in the middle of Sirise forest on Saturday evening,” the official who did not want to be named said.

    The official said eight huts allegedly used to manufacture and repair arms were destroyed and said several Maoists were killed or wounded in the attack, but declined to give further details of the incident 350 kilometers west of Kathmandu.

    The rebels are believed to have set up the arsenal inside the forest after an arms supply crunch following a recent tightening of border security by land-locked Nepal’s southern and northern neighbours- India and China, the official said.

    The Maoists have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since February 1996 and the uprising has already claimed more than 11,000 lives. afp Sphere: Related Content

    Thursday, January 06, 2005

    Japan Today - News - 17 soldiers, policemen killed in rebel attacks in Nepal - Japan's Leading International News Network

    Monday, January 3, 2005 at 07:58 JST
    KATHMANDU — Warring Maoist rebels killed nine soldiers and eight policemen in two separate attacks on highways in Nepal on Saturday and Sunday, government officials said. Five policemen died and six were wounded when the Maoist ambushed a police vehicle on the Mahendra Highway in far western Nepal early Sunday morning.

    On Saturday, four policemen and eight soldiers were killed in a clash on the Koshi Highway in the eastern part of the country. (Kyodo News) Sphere: Related Content

    Japan Today - News - 13 killed in Nepal bus accident -

    Friday, January 7, 2005 at 07:19 JST
    KATHMANDU — A speeding passenger bus veered off a mountainous highway in eastern Nepal on Thursday, killing 13 people and injuring 35, at least seven seriously, police said.

    The accident occurred around 2 p.m. near Puwakhola in the Ilam district, about 400 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu, according to the police. (Kyodo News) Sphere: Related Content

    A kid's life in Nepal

    A kid's life in Nepal

    Living simply in the shadow of the world's tallest mountains

    05:09 PM CST on Thursday, January 6, 2005

    By JOHN LANCASTER / The Washington Post

    JOHN LANCASTER/The Washington Post
    JOHN LANCASTER/The Washington Post
    Babita Biswokarma, 12, lives in a small house near Pokhara, Nepal, with her mother, father, grandmother and four brothers and sisters.

    POKHARA, Nepal – Babita Biswokarma, age 12, is the youngest in a family of six children. She lives with her mother, father, grandmother and four brothers and sisters – her eldest sister has married and moved away – in a small brick-and-concrete house just outside Pokhara, one of Nepal's biggest cities.

    On a clear day, Babita can stand outside her house and see the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world. Her father is a farmer. Like most people in Nepal, the family doesn't have much money. Their house has no running water and Babita doesn't have any toys.

    But they do have electricity and a small television, and outside there is a garden where Babita and her mother grow vegetables and flowers. Babita also takes care of the family's chickens and ducks, chasing after them when they escape and scolding the ducks when they try to eat her lettuce plants. She likes her neighborhood because she lives near lots of other kids, including Sapna, her best friend.

    "She never quarrels with me," said Babita, who wants to be a nurse when she grows up. "If I don't know something as far as schoolwork is concerned, she explains it to me, and I do the same for her."

    Babita's mother wakes her every morning at 5. Babita has a glass of tea and a piece of bread, fetches water from the tap that the family shares with its neighbors, then washes the dishes from the night before. She also sweeps the yard with a small broom. If she has enough time after finishing her chores, she does her homework before leaving for school at 9:30 a.m.

    Babita likes school, where her favorite subjects are Nepali, her native language, and science. Once there was a Japanese man who came to teach at the school and showed Babita and the other students how to play baseball. Now Babita would like to visit Japan. "It's a rich country, and I would like to earn money to build a house," she says.

    During harvest season, Babita helps her parents in the fields. She has her own knife, with a short handle and a curved blade, which she uses for cutting rice plants. It's hard work, but Babita likes the festive atmosphere.

    "There are a lot of people and while harvesting the crop they sing songs, so I enjoy that," she says.

    For dinner, Babita and her family usually eat rice, vegetables and lentil stew. They have chicken once a week as a treat. At 10 o'clock every night, Babita curls up in the big, comfy bed she shares with her grandmother and quickly falls asleep. Babita doesn't mind the company. "It makes me feel secure," she says.HOW SHE HAS FUN

    Playing games: Babita Biswokarma and her friends like hide-and-seek and gati khelni, which involves drawing squares in the dirt with a stick and hopping from one to the other on one leg while kicking a small stone. It's similar to hopscotch and takes a lot of skill.

    Having a party: This year Babita and her friends are going to use the money they got during Tihar, the festival of lights, to buy meat and other food for a picnic in the fields. "We'll carry firewood from the house and then cook the food ourselves," she says. "We'll play games, sing songs and dance."

    Watching TV: Every Sunday night at 9, Babita watches a television drama called Gahana, which means "Jewelry." It's about a family and is "very sad," Babita says. She also likes a comedy called Bitter Truth.

    WHERE SHE LIVES

    Babita Biswokarma, 12, lives just a few miles outside Pokhara, Nepal, which is next to a pretty lake. Pokhara is a popular destination for tourists, who come from all over the world to see the Himalayas. But Babita and her family don't have much to do with tourists. Like most of Nepal's 25 million people, they earn their living from the land. Babita's father practices a type of farming known as sharecropping, which means that he grows crops on someone else's property, keeping part of the harvest as payment.

    In many parts of Nepal, farm fields climb up the sides of mountains like stair steps. But Pokhara is in a valley and the surrounding land is quite flat. The weather is mild, even in winter, which is Babita's favorite season because it almost never rains. Every few months, she and her mother take the bus into Pokhara to shop for clothes and other supplies.INSIDE NEPAL

    How many people: About 25 million. About 40 percent are children ages 14 and younger.

    How big it is: About 54,000 square miles. That makes it just a bit bigger than Arkansas.

    National symbols: They include a rhododendron, a white cow and a green pheasant.

    Capital: Kathmandu

    Religion: More than 85 percent of the people practice Hinduism, including Babita Biswokarma. Buddhism and Islam are also practiced.

    Economy: Nepal is one of the world's poorest countries, with about 40 percent of its population living in poverty. Babita is very lucky to have a television (only six in 1,000 people do). Children ages 6-10 are required to go to school. Because the country is so poor, many children work very hard jobs at early ages.

    Terrain tidbit: Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the world's tallest, which is on Nepal's border with Tibet.

    The Washington Post

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    Wednesday, January 05, 2005

    British Gurkha soldiers to help tsunami victims

    Britain has offered to send a company of 120 Gurkhas serving in the British Army to assist with the tsunami relief effort in Indonesia, BBC reported Wednesday.

    An on-line version of the BBC quoted officials at the 10 Downing Street—office of the British Prime Minister—as saying that the deployment would involve troops from the 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, based in Brunei and two helicopters.

    "This is in addition to the ships and aircraft we have already committed to the relief operation in the Indian Ocean," a government’s spokesman said.

    Discussions are underway with Indonesia on the exact timing and location of the deployment, but the government said the offer was aimed at the Aceh province, the report said.

    Downing Street said a similar offer might be made to the Sri Lankan government. However a spokesman pointed out that there were particular logistical difficulties in Indonesia, which the Gurkhas might be able to help with.

    The spokesman said: "Following this morning's daily coordination meeting on the post-tsunami relief effort, the government has formally offered the Indonesian government the assistance of a company of British Army Gurkhas

    Indonesia is by far the country worst affected by the tsunami, with 94,000 of the 140,000 confirmed deaths so far.

    British International Development Minister, Gareth Thomas, said, "We have offered the Gurkhas to help in the process if scaling up the relief effort, particularly in Aceh which is undoubtedly the hardest hit area in the Indian Ocean at the moment."

    "We've also had RAF aircraft flying in equipment which the UN desperately need in order to set up a truly effective relief operation on the ground in Aceh province as well."

    The British offer has come as the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to arrive in Indonesia for a special summit meeting on the disaster. Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, senior US officials and other world leaders are also scheduled to take part in the summit. nepalnews.com by Jan 05 05 Sphere: Related Content

    Maoists force DDC officials of Baglung out of office

    Owing to threats from the Maoists, 57 employees of the District Development Committee (DDC) of the western district of Banglung resigned from their posts Wednesday.

    An official with the DDC told Nepalnews that a resignation letter collectively signed by 57 employees was submitted to the local development officer, Ganesh Bahadur Khatri, today. Now Khatri is the only official left at the DDC.

    Issuing a statement two weeks ago, the rebels had asked the DDC employees to resign by today.

    Earlier, most of the secretaries of Village Development Committees in the district had resigned from their posts but had resumed work after the concerned authority refused to accept their resignations.

    According to the DDC official, the Maoists have again warned the secretaries not to conduct their jobs. “They have said they would soon start action against the VDC secretaries,” the official said. nepalnews.com mbk Jan 05 05 Sphere: Related Content

    AP Wire | 01/05/2005 | Nepal Soldiers Raid Rebels, Killing 30

    BINAJ GURUBACHARYA

    Associated Press

    KATMANDU, Nepal - Soldiers backed by helicopters raided a communist rebel hideout in the forests of western Nepal, killing at least 30 guerrillas Wednesday and foiling a planned attack on an army base, officials said.

    Tipped that the rebels were meeting, the soldiers moved on the guerrilla camp in the Mashuriya forests near Banchet village, about 375 miles west of the capital, Katmandu.

    Brig. Gen. Rajendra Thapa, who heads the army operation in west Nepal, said authorities believed the rebels were about to attack a nearby army base.

    The fighting lasted five hours. At least seven soldiers were injured, two of them seriously.

    Thapa said soldiers recovered the bodies of 30 rebels and believe more were killed. The guerillas often remove their dead to keep soldiers from identifying them.

    The rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to replace Nepal's monarchy with a communist state and have launched bolder attacks in recent months.

    More than 10,500 people have died since the fighting began.

    The government has urged guerrillas to join peace talks, but the rebels walked out of negotiations in August and ended a seven-month cease-fire. Sphere: Related Content

    Tuesday, January 04, 2005

    Declare highways as ‘Zones of Peace:’ NNTOF (Special Report)


    As Nepal’s major highways turn into battle zones killing dozens of security personnel, rebels and civilians almost every day, a major transport operators’ organisation has called upon all sides to declare and treat the country’s highways as ‘Zones of Peace (ZoP).’

    President of NNTOF, Yogendra Karmacharya

    Talking to Nepalnews, president of Nepal National Transport Operators’ Federation (NNTOF), Yogendra Karmacharya, said it was a matter of great concern that innocent people were falling victims almost everyday as the highways had turned into battle zones.

    “The transport industry—that provides employment to hundreds of thousands of families all over the country—is in dire straits and billions of rupee worth investment in it is in the doldrums,” said Karmacharya. He insisted that the transport operators were not in a position to pay back their loans due to frequent shut down strikes.

    As soon as the rebels lifted their week-long blockade of major highways in the country leading to capital, Kathmandu, last week, local units of the Maoists declared ‘bandhs’ in mid-western districts of Banke, Bardiya and Dang this week.

    “The public transport in western Nepal has been badly affected for the last several months due to frequent strikes. Drivers, helpers and a number of passengers have fallen victims in the crossfire between the security forces and rebels,” said Karmacharya. He lamented that neither political parties nor Kathmandu-based human rights groups were concerned towards difficulties being faced by common people on a regular basis.

    Public and private transport as well as shops, schools and industries in several districts in eastern Nepal remained totally closed for over a week last month though local level Maoist leadership reportedly clarified that they had not called the shutdown strike.

    Analysts say it is because of the environment of fear that looms large all over the country. Only last month (on Dec. 21), a group of armed rebels set ablaze 18 private trucks at Manahari VDC in Makwanpur district along the Mahendra highway causing damage of an estimated Rs 40 million. The trucks were carrying essential supplies to Kathmandu. The next morning, another group of rebels torched four vehicles at Malekhu khola in Dhading district to enforce their ‘bandh.’

    Besides setting on fire on public and private properties, the rebels have been setting up obstructions along the major highways and leaving behind improvised explosives and bombs bringing to a halt all types of traffic including ambulances and vehicles belonging to tourists. It has been their preferred modus operandi to ambush and target security personnel s they reach the area to clear the highways.

    On the first day of the new year 2005, at least 14 security personnel were killed and ten others were injured when the rebels ambushed, surrounded them and opened fire at Malbanse’ section of the Koshi highway in eastern Nepal. The security personnel had reached the area to clear obstructions along the highway set up by the rebels.

    On Dec. 24, three security personnel, including Major Pramod Poudel of the Royal Nepalese Army, lost their lives while trying to defuse landmines at Dandakhola in far-western district of Kanchanpur along the Mahendranagar-Attariya section of the Mahendra highway. Earlier, the team had successfully cleared up several mines laid down by the rebels along the busy highway. Not a single political leader or human rights activist condemned the incident.

    Dozens of security personnel have been killed in rebel attacks in western district of Banke and other parts of the country in similar incidences. Thousands of people were stranded for several days when the rebels set up obstructions in Lamahi-Kohalpur section of the Mahendra highway immediately after Tihar holidays (in November last year).

    Nepali highways – that have one of the highest rates of road traffic accidents in the whole world-- have also turned into dangerous traps as rebels continue to target security personnel by obstructing roads. Passengers traveling in public buses have been killed while traveling from Dolakha to Kathmandu in central Nepal. There have been several incidences when passengers have been injured badly or even died while trying to remove obstructions to clear the highways. There is no provision of compensation or treatment for these hapless people.

    Journalist Kanak M. Dixit

    “Nowhere in the world do rebels lay down mines along the highways that are used by common people,” writes senior journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, in the latest issue of Himal khabarpatrika. “No way. The Maoists are not in a position to convince people that act like ‘shutdown strikes’ and ‘blockades’ – that add to the woes of hundreds of thousands of people—is, in fact, the `revolution,” he added.

    Transport operators say they are also victimized by what they call the government’s apathy towards their plight. “Whenever there is a strike or blockade, the authorities announce that they would provide compensation to the damaged vehicles and personal injuries,” says Karmacharya. “But as soon as the strike is over, they tend to forget their own promises,” he added.

    He also said that as security personnel usually don’t venture out in the night for patrol along the highways, incidences of robbery by criminal elements had gone up sharply over the past few months.

    “Public transport is the only means of transport for general public. So, the rebels – who are fighting their war in the name of the people—should not do any thing that poses dangers to the public,” said Karmacharya.

    Transport operators have also been urging the security personnel not to harass passengers during routine `security checks’ and try to avoid civilian casualties as far as possible. nepalnews.com by Jan 04 05

    Sphere: Related Content

    Explosives, weapons seized from Maoists in Kathmandu

    The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) Tuesday said it has confiscated a huge amount of explosives and arms from the Maoists over the last two months in Kathmandu.

    Organising a press conference today, the Directorate of Public Relations of the RNA, displayed the ‘highly explosive substances’, which officials said weighed 218kg, two guns, 17 grenades, a few pistols, detonators and 123 communication sets.

    Some of bombs seized from the rebels are quite sophisticated – fitted with time devices - and there are some time bombs also, officials said.

    RNA spokesman, Brigadier General Deepak Gurung told reporters, “Had we not been able to confiscate the explosives and arms, the Maoists could unleash massive destruction in the capital.” According to him, the war materials were seized on tip off of local people of different areas at different times.

    Gurung further said that security personnel were keeping a close eye on the activities of the rebels and their possible hideouts in Kathmandu Valley.

    nepalnews.com mbk Jan 04 05 Sphere: Related Content

    Nepal: Open letter condemning the abduction and killing of civilians and the "blockade" of Kathmandu by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

    Ref: T/ASA 31/CPN-Maoist/2004/02
    ASA 31/157/2004
    Prachanda
    Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)Nepal


    Dear Prachanda,
    Open letter condemning the abduction and killing of civilians and the "blockade" of Kathmandu by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

    I am writing to express Amnesty International's concern about the continued abduction and killing of civilians by the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist).

    In the last month Amnesty International has received reports of at least 16 people being killed and hundreds of people being abducted by CPN (Maoist). In many cases large numbers of civilians, who were often students or teachers, were taken away apparently to be given political education or military training. In other cases, individuals have been abducted in a targeted way and in these cases we consider them to be at particular risk of being killed.

    Amnesty International strongly condemns the killing of journalist and human rights defender, Dekendra Raj Thapa, on 11 August 2004. He was abducted in Dailekh district on 27 June after being summoned by the CPN (Maoist) to discuss a drinking water project he had been managing. We note that the CPN (Maoist) has taken responsibility for his killing, and justified it by accusing him of spying for the security forces and acting as master of ceremonies at an event attended by the King of Nepal. We request further details as to the evidence on the basis of which he was accused of spying and the process by which the "charges" against him were proven. Amnesty International is also concerned that since his killing, other journalists in Dailekh district have reportedly been threatened and harassed by CPN (Maoist) members.

    Amnesty International draws your attention to the following cases of eleven people who have reportedly been abducted by CPN (Maoist) members and whose fate or whereabouts remain uncertain:

    · Raj Bahadur Rokaya, Dangale Rokaya Bijalal Rokaya, Satarsi Rokaya and Raj Bahadur Rokaya were all reportedly abducted in Mugu district by CPN (Maoist) on 13 January 2002. Earlier this year their families received information that Raj Bahadur Rokaya had been killed but the other three were still being detained by the (CPN Maoist) at an unknown location.

    · Ram Prasad Rijal (aged 73) was abducted from his home in Pyuthan district on 23 July along with his son Devi Prasad Rijal (aged 42) and daughter in law Pratibha Rijal (aged 35) by 12 armed CPN (Maoist) members. They are believed to have been targeted because of their relationship to Ram Prasad's other son who is a local politician in Pyuthan district. The latter, Hari Rijal, himself has reportedly received death threats from the CPN (Maoist). Furthermore, Ram Prasad Rijal's brother, Durga Rijal was reportedly abducted on 24 December 2003 and the whereabouts of all four are now unknown.


    · Sita Bhattarai (aged 17) was abducted from her home in Gulmi district at 7.30pm on 26 June 2004 by 10 armed CPN (Maoist) members. Her family own a small hotel in Gulmi district and they believe she may have been targeted by the CPN (Maoist) because army personnel sometimes stay at the hotel.

    · Uddhav Bahadur Adhikari (aged 54), who is the Chair of Betauna Village Development Committee, Siraha district, was reportedly abducted whilst he was supervising the construction of a road at 11am on 6 July.

    · Laxman Bista (aged 52) was reportedly abducted from his home in Gulmi district on 7 August by five CPN (Maoist) members. He is believed to have been targeted because is a member of the mainstream Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist).

    · Kripa Ram Bhattarai (aged 41) was reportedly abducted from his home in Kalikot district by five CPN (Maoist) members at 6pm on 11 August. He is a farmer and was formerly a member of the Nepali Congress party but has not been active in politics for two years.

    Amnesty International urges the CPN (Maoist) to guarantee the safety of all civilians currently under its control, including those mentioned above, and to release them immediately and unconditionally. We also appeal to the CPN (Maoist) leadership to uphold previous commitments to abide by fundamental human rights standards and the Geneva Conventions. This means complying with minimum humanitarian standards contained in Article 3, common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which prohibit violence to life and person, the taking of hostages and summary executions of those not actively engaged in the conflict.

    Amnesty International is also deeply concerned at the "blockade" of all vehicles entering or leaving Kathmandu declared by the CPN (Maoist) which began today. News reports suggest that only a few vehicles have been able to pass along highways in and out of Kathmandu since and as a result some people have been unable to get back to their homes. Amnesty International is concerned that the "blockade" will restrict the supply of food and essential medical supplies to civilian populations not only in Kathmandu but in other districts which rely on access to Kathmandu for the supply of these goods. We remind the CPN (Maoist) of its responsibilities under international law to ensure that its acts do not violate the right of the population to be free from hunger, to medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.

    Amnesty International once again reminds the CPN (Maoist) that international humanitarian law prohibits means and methods of warfare which fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants. It also expressly prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of combat in both internal and international armed conflict. This prohibition is violated not only when lack of food or denial of access to medical assistance causes death, but also when the population suffers hunger because of deprivation of food sources or supplies.


    Yours sincerely,



    Ingrid Massagé
    Interim Program Director,
    Asia & Pacific Program
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    Asia Times Online - A fight to the death in Nepal

    By Dhruba Adhikary

    KATHMANDU - Anyone going through literature put out by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) will understand that the ultimate aim of the "People's War", launched in early 1996, is to convert the Himalayan kingdom into a state run by the believers of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

    Their Internet web site places Prachanda, their supremo who goes with one name, on a par with Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong. And the Nepali expression of the "Prachanda Path" is made to appear comparable to the Shining Path movement in Peru. Baburam Bhattarai, one of the leader's right-hand men, used to cite the Peruvian insurgency as a possible role model for Nepal. Bhattarai was at the forefront of the activists who, in 1992, collected signatures from Nepal's members of parliament who subsequently urged the authorities in Lima to release Abimael Guzman, or Chairman Gonzalo.

    It appears that Nepali Maoists continue to take advantage from their linkages with RIM (the Revolutionary International Movement), which was instrumental in introducing them to comrades from other parts of the world, including those in India and Turkey.

    While their eventual plan is the abolition of Nepal's monarchy, the methods employed by the Maoists to achieve this goal have been violent from the beginning. And they are open on this count. Their belief in Mao's words are exemplified by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's slogan that leads their web site: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

    Guns seem to be more important to Maoists than men who handle these weapons. Incidents over the years indicate that the guerrillas prefer to lose their men - and now an increasing number of women - rather than the rifles that they manage to snatch from the army and the police. Lately, they have begun procuring small arms from various sources in India, which shares an 1,800-plus kilometers of unregulated land border with Nepal.

    The Maoists' declared ideology depicts them as communists and their violent methods project them as terrorists, which does not sit well with countries more tuned to Western democratic systems. India certainly has not taken the phenomenon as something easily digestible. New Delhi termed Nepal's Maoists as terrorists even before Kathmandu took a decision on the issue. Indian authorities apparently reacted to the Maoist denunciation of India as an "expansionist" power.

    Like other communist groups, the Maoists accuse the United States of being a power with "imperialist" designs, and their wrath against the US has found expression in different forms. Fatal attacks on two US embassy guards in Kathmandu, the killing of Rabindra Shrestha, a Nepali national who worked as an agricultural specialist in a US-aided project in the western hill district of Salyan, and hits on two Coca-Cola plants elsewhere in the country are some of the examples of their displeasure with the US.

    The United Kingdom, which regards Nepal as a traditional ally in South Asia, mainly due to the Gurkha connection, castigates Maoists for adopting violent measures to attain their political goals. Conspicuously though, Maoists have not inflicted any physical harm on personnel, projects or properties belonging to either India or Britain. The incident of October 19 was an exception when rebels abducted a British army officer trekking in the Baglung area on the western hills. Two days later he was released, and Prachanda himself took the unprecedented step of issuing a public apology - from his underground hideout - over the incident.

    More than 8,000 lives have been lost in eight years and, according to figures released on Tuesday, over 1,200 deaths have occurred in the period since the collapse of the latest ceasefire on August 27. Informal Sector Education Center, a human rights group, also says that citizens have been killed by both Maoists and security forces consisting of personnel from the Royal Nepal Army, the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force.

    Maoist rebels, who now are spread in all 75 districts of the country, continue to kill people who either do not make financial contributions or who show unwillingness to feed their workers or who act as informers to the police or army. School teachers, journalists and government officials have been murdered, often by slitting heads from bodies. In the absence of a credible security cover, people in rural areas are unable to offer any resistance.

    And apart from the loss of lives, the insurgency has already cost the country dearly in economic terms, and the destruction of infrastructures has inflicted additional damage to Nepal's farm-based subsistence economy.

    The Maoists claim - and authorities agree in private conversations - that the presence of government authority is effectively confined to district headquarters. This means that the largest part of the country's 23 million population is left unattended. To Maoists, this is a major gain as it provides them a basis for propaganda that about 80 percent of Nepal is already under their control.

    The present spell is a phase of uncertainty, with a weak civilian government in Kathmandu trying to be assertive through military action. It is a period that has evolved after several rounds of peace talks held between 2001 and 2003 failed to produce tangible results in terms of the political reforms that the Maoists demanded. Rebel leaders, who have gone underground since the collapse of negotiations in August, have blamed the "old regime" for remaining adamant, even after the Maoists' willingness to be flexible in their demands submitted on behalf of the poor and down-trodden sections of the population.

    A round-table meeting of both communist and non-communist political forces, the formation of an all-party interim government and the holding of elections for a constituent assembly (for writing a new constitution to replace the one enacted in 1990) are the three main demands put forward by the Maoists.

    Media reports and comments indicate that King Gyanendra is averse to a constituent assembly, fearing for the future of the monarchy. The Maoists have repeatedly said in clear terms that the feudal institution of the monarchy would not have any place in their political scheme. Actually, from their standpoint, the era of the monarchy effectively came on June 1, 2001 - the day that King Birendra, together with the queen and crown prince, were killed in a palace shootout, the details of which remain a mystery.

    In any case, what will happen if most of the other political parties, which the monarch alienated by dismissing an elected government in October 2002, also agree to be supportive to the Maoists on this issue? Nobody can ignore this question.

    Military sources claim that the Maoists have suffered a major setback in recent weeks, losing hundreds of fighters. Attacks carried out by insurgent groups on police posts and other government installations were foiled by security forces, who have also been successful in retrieving some of the weapons the rebels have seized in the past.

    The Maoists, however, rebuff these assertions, and it is difficult to independently verify who among the belligerent parties is speaking the truth. Officers commanding the field operations believe that they will reduce the rebel strength before long, provided the civilian authorities in Kathmandu do not once again fall into the Maoist trap of another round of negotiations. The military want the political leadership to understand what the Maoists did during previous peace talks - they used them to buy time to re-group and augment their fighting capabilities.

    The security forces are emboldened by the latest statement of Surya Bahadur Thapa, who heads the government appointed by the king. Thapa said that he would not consider any other option until the military strength of the Maoists was reduced to a minimum level.

    The latest US action to freeze the assets of the Maoists needs to be examined against this background. Although the US envoy in Kathmandu, Michael Malinowski, has likened Maoist tactics to those of Cambodia's infamous Khmer Rouge, Washington had not taken any direct measures on them thus far. It was only in March that Washington placed them on a secondary (watch) list of organizations whose activities could be harmful to American interests.

    And the US decision of October 31 to declare the Maoists a threat to US security came shortly after the rebel organization issued a statement outlining its new strategy. This, signed by Prachanda, was issued on October 20 with a pledge not to harm the activities of non-government organizations, except those run with US support.

    Washington responded in kind by issuing an executive order from Secretary of State Colin Powell to freeze Maoists' assets. A Washington Post report on November 7, however, described the measure as a " largely symbolic move". What carries more than a symbolic significance is the US appeal to other countries to take similar steps.

    India rightly acknowledged that it is the most important among such "other countries". But the Indian envoy in Kathmandu, Shyam Saran, did not lose any time in telling the US audience that New Delhi was unlikely to extend any meaningful cooperation on the matter. "The US has its way of dealing with such matters, while India has its own way of doing things."

    The responses differ because the interests and perceptions of the countries are divergent. Shyam Saran denied having any knowledge of Maoists maintaining bank accounts in India. This kind of response can undoubtedly stand on legal and technical grounds, but it cannot convince the public at large. And if Maoist insurgency, for instance, is a "common threat", as has been mentioned by the ambassador, should not New Delhi help Kathmandu to devise a strategy to uncover the sources of its funding?

    Indeed, Indian authorities have dealt with the case of the Maoists differently on different occasions. First, Indian security agencies did not prevent the Maoists from holding a conference in Siliguri, a township in the state of West Bengal. Secondly, Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara safely granted a television interview to a Western network from an undisclosed location in New Delhi. The case of Chandra Prakash Gajurel, another senior member of the Maoist leadership, is equally intriguing. Gajurel was detained by Indian police in August at Chennai airport when he was about to board a Europe-bound plane, on charges of using forged British travel documents. But Indian authorities refused to transfer him to Nepal, though they have in the past handed back field-level Maoist workers, often picked up from hospitals they visit for treatment of minor injuries.

    The standard reaction from New Delhi on Nepal's complaints on such matters is invariably based on two arguments: that India is a democracy and cannot therefore apply restrictive laws on people residing in Indian territory, and that the border between Nepal and India is open - meaning unregulated. But such contentions remain unconvincing, even to those Indians who have actively worked to implement New Delhi's external relations for a long time.

    The following observation of K V Rajan, Indian ambassador to Nepal from 1995 to 2000, is illuminating:

    "To plead that it is difficult to keep track of such [Maoist] activity because of an open border is to give credibility to the same argument made by Nepal in defense of its inability to prevent cross-border traffic of criminals and terrorists."

    The Maoists also have found it expedient to reciprocate whatever covert support they receive from India. For example, they no longer criticize India, let alone harm Indian interests in Nepal. No point is raised, even when border areas are encroached, high dams are constructed causing inundation in Nepali territory, Nepali nationals mistreated in Indian towns and Nepal is short-changed in agreements to utilize water flowing from the rivers of Nepal. Instead, the Maoists prefer to use their weight to denounce the US, a country located on the other side of the world; a country which is unlikely to colonize or usurp Nepal. China, Nepal's neighbor to the north, too, is not considered a menace by Nepalis.

    Meanwhile, while Britain continues to be a part of the US-led alliance against terrorism in a global context, it holds a different viewpoint on Nepal's Maoists. Although Nepal's military continues to receive "non-lethal" assistance from the UK, the British stand is that there is no military solution to the ongoing insurgency. They also share some of the views of European partners, whose concerns are primarily focused on socio-economic reforms and on human rights issues. Reports of excesses committed by security forces, mainly by the army, have come under the close scrutiny of some European countries, including Germany, Switzerland and Norway.

    It seems, then, that Western sympathy for the Maoists is on the decline because the Maoists themselves have failed to maintain their image as saviours of the poor and socially-disadvantaged groups. In their attempts to change tactics from time to time, the Maoist leadership has lost its grip on its own cadres. Members of rebel militia units have begun to defy orders from the top. This trend has been particularly visible since the Maoists announced a nine-day unilateral ceasefire during the Dashain festival last month. Media reports say that Maoists in villages did not stop their killing spree, and they also reported other activities, such as looting, extortion and rape.

    Mohan Bikram Singh, a strong personality in Nepal's communist movement since the 1950s, is of the view that the "People's War" is an extremism, a terrorist idea, which can be exploited by the monarchy to regain the absolute powers it lost during the pro-democracy movement of 1990.

    Would the Maoists be prepared to abandon the insurgency if they were to receive an offer for sharing power with the present regime and take the country to fresh elections? No, according to Baburam Bhattarai, a rebel leader. "There is just no chance of our sharing the spoils of power within the present autocratic monarchical system, whether through showcase 'elections' or no elections," Bhattarai wrote in a newspaper in July.

    There's clearly no end in sight for Nepal's turmoil. Sphere: Related Content

    Monday, January 03, 2005

    Maoist leader deposits huge sum in an Indian Bank

    The underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has taken action against its own senior cadre, Shiva Chandra Kushwaha, after identifying that he had deposited Rs 50 million in his own account at an Indian bank, a news report said.

    According to an investigative report published in the latest issue of SAMAY magazine, the Maoist party has sent Kushwaha into a “labor camp” in central hilly district of Dolakha after finding out that he had deposited the huge sum of money at the Patna branch of the State Bank of India.

    Kushwaha was the in-charge of Bara-Parsa district units of the party and also the chief of the Maoist ‘people’s government’ in the terai district of Bara. The latest situation of Kushwaha remain unknown.

    According to the magazine, of late the living style of the Maoist guerrillas has undergone sea change as they can be seen sporting a mobile phone, riding a motor bike and of course, a home-made pistol or gun.

    The magazine has quoted a health worker, Jagar Nath Sah, of Dewahi bazaar in Rautahat district, as saying that he sold his motorbike and is riding on a bicycle after rebels used to “borrow’ the motorbike from their owners in the villages. “We had eight bikes in our village but now we have none and we are facing difficulties if people fall sick,” he added.

    Earlier, reports had quoted security sources as saying that former Maoist commander of the Kathmandu valley, Sadhuram Devkota alias Prashant, had admitted with them of raising up to Rs 20 million as “donations” for the party. The Maoists, however, alleged Prashant of raising much more sum than that and keeping the rest with himself.

    Prashant allegedly committed suicide while in the army custody in Kathmandu last month. nepalnews.com by Jan 04 05 Sphere: Related Content

    ndian Army is keeping vigil on alleged links between Indian militant and Nepali Maoists

    India keeping vigil on Maoist-KLO, ULFA nexus

    Indian Army is keeping vigil on alleged links between Indian militant organisations and Nepali Maoists, a senior Indian army official said.

    The Times of India, a leading Indian daily, quoted eastern command GOC-in-C of the Indian Army, Arvind Sharma, as saying that Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO), United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Maoists of Nepal were posing a new dimension to the insurgency situation in Assam and north Bengal states of India.

    Addressing a meet-the-Press programme at Kolkata Press Club Monday, Sharma said the (Indian) army was keeping a close watch on the growing nexus. It was in liaison with the state governments concerned. "It certainly poses a new threat, if this continues," he added.

    Though KLO was reduced in number after the flush-out operations in Bhutan, it was getting shelter in Maoist camps in Nepal, along with its mentor ULFA. The Maoists, too, had an interest in north Bengal and lower Assam, the disturbed south Bhutan being close to these places, the daily reported.

    The Indian army had suggested to the government that a standardized rehabilitation package be worked out for militants who would lay down arms. Currently, the packages were different in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Manipur. All the states did not implement the packages with equal seriousness, but if promises to militants coming overground were not fulfilled, others would not be encouraged to lay down arms.

    Even if the Centre formulated such a package, it would depend on the state governments concerned to implement them, Sharma said. And, all the states did not have equal financial muscle, some of them suffered from a serious resource crunch, the report quoted the Army brass as saying.

    Neither Nepali officials nor Maoists have commented on the issue so far.

    nepalnews.com by Jan 04 05

    Sphere: Related Content

    Saturday, January 01, 2005

    At least 12 persons were killed in clash with Maoist at Malbase area on the Koshi Highway in Dhankuta district Saturday

    State-owned Radio Nepal quoting the Dhankuta-based No.2 Brigade of the Royal Nepalese Army said that eight army personnel and four policemen were killed in the five-hour battle while 10 security men were injured. The clash that ensued at around 12:00 p.m. lasted until 5:00 p.m.

    The injured security men have been taken to BP Koirala Institute for Health Sciences, Dharan, for treatment.

    The Maoists had exploded landmines targeting a security team that had gone to the area from Bhedetar, Dhankuta, to clear the obstructions on the highway. The Maoists had felled trees at several places along the highway.

    The Maoists, according to the report, had retreated after backup forces deployed from Dhankuta launched fierce offensive against the Maoists along with aerial attacks.

    Casualty on the Maoist side is yet to be known.

    nepalnews.com Jan 01 05 Sphere: Related Content