Nepalese Official Jailed for Corruption. In recent years there have been stories of official corruption concerning Nepalese permits for Everest expeditions. At the end of this season, a middle-ranking officer in Nepal's ministry of tourism, which grants permits to expeditions and generally oversees mountaineering in Nepal, became the first official ever to be sent to jail to be tried on a charge of attempting to extort a bribe from a foreign mountaineer. He fell into a trap on May 28 and was arrested as he left a Kathmandu hotel with a wad of Nepalese bank notes reportedly worth about $600. This was part of his demand for at least $5,000 in cash, a camera, a video camera and climbing equipment in return for having "done everything" for an American leader, Todd Burleson, to obtain his permit for an Everest climb that took place this spring. Unhappily for the official, undersecretary Indul K.C., Burleson had informed the authorities in advance, and the serial numbers of these notes had been recorded before Mr. K.C. came to collect them from Burleson.

Elizabeth Hawley