Free Republic

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...

Abducted British official a Brigadier General A British official abducted by the Maoists from Baglung on Monday was a senior official named John Paul, a Brigadier General of the British army, published reports said Tuesday. The Kathmandu-based British embassy Monday confirmed the abduction of the official on Monday. Along with Paul, four more officials have gone missing. Of them, three were British Gurkha officials. They have been identified as Nar Bahadur Thapa, Balkrishna Gurung and Karna Bahadur Kaucha. The name of the fifth abducted official was not known. The actual place where the abduction took place was Lekhani village in...

In the Himalayan homeland of the Gurkhas, last stronghold of a discredited political creed, rebels plot a new stage in a bloody war. Philip Sherwell reports from western Nepal The clenched-fist salutes of the young men in torn shirts and frayed trousers were the first sign that we had crossed sides. Then a bedraggled array of red flags emerged out of the rainy season mists on a ridge above a collection of wooden huts. We finally entered the village of Alital beneath a red banner proclaiming "No to foreign intervention, Down with US imperialism". This is the rebel-controlled Maoist heartland...

Britain's most terrifying warriors prepare to take on the Taliban. FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS, the British army and navy have been conducting joint exercises in the sultanate of Oman. The operation is called Swift Sword II, and by happy coincidence, it happens to put 23,000 British soldiers in the vicinity of Afghanistan. Many of them are now expecting to take part in the ground war and have been training furiously since September 11. In fact, just last week a war game took place in the heart of the Omani desert. The objective was a two-man post held by the ...

YOU WOULDN'T WANT to be a defender of Saddam's regime right about now. Not only is the country teeming with coalition regulars, but also a vast and deadly array of the world's elite special forces. We're not just talking about the Green Berets. There's the Delta Force, Navy SEALs, and the Nightstalkers. And don't forget Australia's Tactical Assault Group (TAG), Poland's GROM, and of course the British SAS and the Gurkhas. For some, like the GROM ("thunder" in Polish) commandos, it is history in the making. This is their first time in Iraq and thus far they have helped secure...

LONDON (Reuters) - Bird conservationists have turned to one of the British army's most fearsome regiments, the Gurkhas, to help in their fight against egg thieves. Inspectors from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) will not actually wield the soldiers' famous kukri daggers, but they will be trained in camouflage and surveillance by the Nepalese troops. The Gurkhas' base in the south of England is ideally placed to help protect rare birds like the Marsh Harrier, said RSPB spokesman Graham Madge Tuesday. RSPB officers will hide in undergrowth and photograph potential thieves passing near endangered birds' nests,...

Egg thieves are threatening rare bird species Conservationists are enlisting the help of Gurkhas to combat the problem of bird egg thefts. The soldiers will not be armed, but will help teams from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) go undercover to track down collectors before they strike. They will train RSPB species protection officers in the techniques of reconnaissance and espionage as part of an initiative launched in the Kent countryside. The RSPB believes such strong tactics are necessary to prevent rare birds from becoming extinct. The RSPB's Graham Madge said: "I hope this sends out...