Government, rebels send letter to UN

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Wednessday, August 09, 2006

After long period of uncertainty, the government and the Maoists finally sent a joint letter the United Nations (UN) asking the global body to assist Nepal peace process.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda from left to right (File Photo)
Coordinator of the government and Maoists talks teams Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Krishna Bahadur Mahara handed over the joint letter to the Acting Chief of the UN system in Kathmandu Abraham Abraham from their side at the peace secretariat on Wednesday afternoon.

Though they separately handed over the letter to the UN, they informed that the content of the letter is same.

Both the sides sought the world body’s help in five areas.

The letter asked the UN to continue monitoring of Human Rights through the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal, to assist to monitor the 25-point code of conduct reached between Maoists and the government during the ceasefire.

The letter also asked the global body to deploy qualified civilian personnel to monitor and verify the confinement of CPN-M combatants and their weapons within designated cantonment areas.

The letter however said the modalities for all agreements, including of arms and munitions, will be worked out among the parties and the UN.




Coordinator of the government peace talks team Krishana Prasad Sitaula...
The letter also asked to assist the monitoring of armies of Maoist cantonment. However the letter said that the modalities of the verification and monitoring will be decided after holding discussion with the concerned parties.

The fourth point of the letter asked the global body’s help to monitor to assure that Nepali Army is inside barrack and is not being used for or against any side in order to ensure free and fair elections to the Constituent Assembly. The letter said that the modality will be finalized letter.

Both the government and the Maoists also asked the global body to observe the election process to the Constituent Assembly

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda signed the letter after an hour-long meeting between them at Prime Minister’s residence this afternoon.

The high level UN team led by Staffan de Mistura that returned after the assessment visit of Nepal has asked the government and the Maoists to find consensus in the issue of arms management after the government and the Maoists sent separate letters to the UN Secretary General in the issue of arms management.

During its weeklong stay in Kathmandu, the UN Mission had held discussions with various personalities including Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, ministers, leaders of the seven-party alliance, CPN (Maoist) and the foreign missions based here. The Mission had set a three-day ‘deadline’ till last Thursday (August 3) for the government and the Maoists to arrive at a consensus on how the UN should engage itself in Nepal’s peace process, but both sides failed to meet the deadline.

Talking to journalists after handing over the letter to the UN, coordinator of the Maoist talks team, Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the letter is the milestone as per the aspiration of the Nepali people towards peace.

Likewise, coordinator of the government talks team, Home Minsiter Krishna Prasad Sitaula said that there are no major differences between the government and the Maoists, adding some minor differences will be resolved through talks. nepalnews.com by/pb Aug 09 06