Kathmandu - Maoist former rebels resumed an extortion drive
against tourists visiting a popular trekking destination in western
Nepal after stopping the practice for nearly a year after signing a
peace deal with the government, local news reports said Friday.
The Maoists once again imposed a 'tourism tax' from tourists and
mountaineering expeditions in the Myagdi district, about 200
kilometres west of Kathmandu, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The Young Communist League, the Maoist youth wing, is 'forcibly
collecting 15 US dollars from each tourist visiting the region,' the
newspaper quoted local police as saying.
The Maoists said they were levying the charge to maintain a
trekking route to the Mount Daulagiri base camp, the newspaper said.
The Maoists stopped collecting money from tourists and local
people after signing a peace deal with the government in November,
which outlawed such activities and made them a criminal act.
Until then, the Maoists forcibly collected money they called
'donations' to fund their armed revolt to establish a communist state
in Nepal.
The collection of money from tourists comes at a time when the
country's tourism industry, hit hard by the decadelong conflict,
showed signed of robust growth and the number of tourists visiting
the Myagdi district increased significantly this year.
On Thursday, Nepalese officials said tourist arrivals in the
country rose 32 per cent in the first nine months of the year over
the same period last year.
The government said it believes the number of visitors would
surpass a half-million in 2007 but cautioned that extortion or
instability would harm efforts to revive Nepal's tourism sector.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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