Nepal's Donors Threaten Military Aid Cutoff

by Satish Pandey

(IPS) NEW DELHI -- The government of Nepal's King Gyanendra is clearly in a state of denial when it said that it was 'business as usual' after the ambassadors of several donor countries, who were recalled home for consultations, returned back to the capital Kathmandu.

From the looks of things, that 'business-as-usual' notion in international diplomacy seems to be way off the mark. India's ambassador to Nepal, S S Mukherjee, returned to Kathmandu on Feb. 20 with a strong message from New Delhi telling King Gyanendra that there was an urgent need for the return of democracy to Nepal and all political leaders had to be released from detention.

This week, India confirmed that it has stopped military aid to Nepal, fearing it could be used against pro-democracy demonstrators. Other donors are doing the same.

'As of now, many aspects of our bilateral relations are being re-assessed and reviewed. But as far as military supplies are concerned, they are on hold,' Indian embassy spokesman Sanjay Verma told reporters in Kathmandu.

U.S. Ambassador to Nepal James F. Moriarty, is also due to return. But he told a briefing in Washington that Nepal may face a cut off in military aid from the United States and its allies if the king does not quickly restore multiparty democracy.

India and the U.S. have been pumping military aid to the poorly equipped Royal Nepal Army to help it hunt down Maoist rebels who have been fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist republic for the past nine years.

Both have supplied arms, trucks and helicopters and given training to the Nepali army that is battling an increasingly bloody Maoist revolt in which some 11,000 people have died.

Meanwhile, the British government has also decided to suspend a planned package of military assistance to Nepal.

'We are now considering with key international partners what our longer term policy for providing assistance to Nepal should be, including on assistance with a humanitarian purpose,' said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in a statement.

'We continue to urge the king to restore representative government and democratic freedoms. These are essential steps towards a sustainable peace process,' added Straw.

On Feb. 1 in an announcement on state-run television, King Gyanendra accused the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and being unable to restore peace in the country.

'All the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country's democracy,' Gyanendra said in a half-hour speech.

'Innocent children were found massacred and the government could not achieve any important and effective results. The crown traditionally is held responsible for the protection of national sovereignty, democracy and people's right to live peacefully,' he said.

Soon the king's address, a state of emergency was declared and all civil liberties suspended. Two days later, the monarch appointed his own council of ministers.

According to reports from Kathmandu some 1,000 activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions had been rounded up nationwide. Royal Nepal Army spokesman Brigadier General Dipak Gurung said that a security committee under the Home Ministry would determine how long activists remain locked up. 'They can be detained for three months,' the general said.

The Royal Nepal Army has been given the green light to wage an all out war against the Maoists and human rights groups fear innocent Nepali civilians would be caught in the fighting.

'In Nepal's civil war, both Maoist insurgents and the Royal Nepali Army continue to attack civilians after the royal takeover of power, violating the laws of war,' the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

Human Rights Watch researchers in the southern Nepali town of Nepalgunj documented several attacks on civilians by both the Maoist insurgents and government troops, including the Maoists' burning an ambulance and placing bombs in schools, and government troops shooting and wounding two members of a wedding party.

'Army abuses since the royal power grab seem only to have spurred the Maoist rebels to commit further abuses of their own,' said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. 'There is a real danger that war crimes in Nepal will spiral out of control.

'Throughout the civil war, we've witnessed shocking disregard for the security of civilians by both the army and the rebels,' Adams said. 'Both sides claim to be fighting on the side of the people, but in fact their main targets have been Nepal's civilians.'

Nepali students have begun to protest and there are unconfirmed reports that police had to fire on student demonstrators at Pokhara, 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu.

Many fear the notorious pro-monarchist police secret service, known locally as the 'mandale,' would be revived if the students' agitation goes out of hand.

'The Kathmandu Post,' a respected newspaper, reported that security forces are trying to stop 200 politicians and human rights activists from fleeing the country. Police and army stationed at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan airport and important highways have been ordered to turn away these persons who may seek to flee abroad.

'The king's government is showing no signs of relenting,' a Nepali journalist said, requesting anonymity. 'It's still in crackdown mode.'