E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, NOV 25 -

The UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, is visiting Nepal via India next week to make an assessment of efforts being made in the peace process and in the preparations for ensuring an orderly withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).

The visit comes in line with the UN Security Council's decision to withdraw UNMIN after its mandate expires in mid-January. Pascoe will update the Security Council on the status of the peace process following his visit scheduled through Dec. 2-4.

Pascoe is scheduled to spend a day in India before landing in Kathmandu on Dec. 3. “Pascoe's talks in India will focus on a range of regional and international issues,” said Faran Haq, the acting spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in a regular press breifing in New York on Wednesday.

In Nepal, Pascoe will be looking particularly at the status of decision-making and planning for integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants and for ensuring an orderly withdrawal of UNMIN, Haq said. This is Paosoe's second visit to Nepal following the Security Council's decision to extend UNMIN's term in September.

During his visit here in October, Pascoe had urged the government and the Maoists to agree on a clear work plan on rehabilitation and integration with timelines and benchmarks. The major parties have, however, not made any progress in this regard.

A member of the Special Committee overseeing the Maoist combatants told the Post that the political parties are likely to reach an agreement on the leadership of the Special Committee Secretariat and the structure that would be set up in cantonment sites to transfer the chain of command to the government. The parties had agreed to set up the 12-member secretariat in September. However, the mechanism is defunct as the parties are divided on the coordinator of the body. The ruling parties are in favour of appointing Rtd. Lt. Gen. Balananda Sharma to the post, while the Maoists have proposed Chief of the People's Liberation Army Nanda Kishore Pun for the job. The Nepal Army has proposed the names of three retired generals--Balanada Sharma, Amar Panta and Bajra Gurung--for the coordinator's post.

“The government and the Maoists are likely to choose an alternative candidate, who is acceptable to both, to lead the mechanism,” the source said.

 

Posted on: 2010-11-25 02:36

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