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Letter to UNSC likely this week
KATHMANDU, AUG 30 -
The government is all set to dispatch a letter to the United Nations Security Council within this week, seeking a four-month extension to the UN’s political mission with a revised mandate here.
“This will be the last tenure of UNMIN as a political mission. There will be no extension even if the peace process doesn’t conclude within the extended time,” a highly-placed government source privy to these affairs told the Post on Monday.
“UNMIN will be given a mandate of only monitoring Maoist combatants and keeping their records,” the source said, adding that Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal will hold consultations with the UCPN (Maoist) before deciding on the revision of the mandate. The government wants to detach the Nepal Army from UN’s monitoring while giving it a term extension.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is tabling a report on Nepal’s peace process on Sept. 7 in the UN and the request on UNMIN’s renewal will be dispatched before that, added the source.
The government has asked Nepal’s Permanent Representative to the UN Gyan Chandra Acharya to negotiate with the UN Security Council and see what kind of a request should be forwarded if the political leadership continues to remain divided over the next mandate.
UNMIN once again under Bidhya fire
KATHMANDU: Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari has been consistently maintaining anti-UNMIN stand as she has reiterated that the Nepal Army cannot remain under the supervision of the UN’s body.
She said this speaking at a programme in the Capital on Monday. Bhandari, who maintains hardline against the UN’s mission in Nepal, however said the UNMIN’s term can be extended by three months but with a revised mandate.
The defence minister accused the Maoists of hindering the regular activities of the Army by “raising the points not included in the Comprehensive Peace Accord”. She said that the Army and the People’s Liberation Army cannot have equal status. Bhandari, also a UML leader, said her party should support the Nepali Congress candidate in the by-poll
Admitting that the country failed to pick a new prime minister due to the UML’s neutrality stand in the past five elections, Bhandari said UML should vote for one of the candidates vying for the prime minister’s post.
CoAS meets Landgren
KATHMANDU: UNMIN Chief Karin Landgren on Monday met Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Chhatra Man Singh Gurung. Both the sides did not disclose the issues that were dwelt in the discussions held at the Army Headquarters.
According to a press statement issued by the Army’s Directorate of Public Relations, Gen. Gurung said the fact that being one of the top troops contributing countries to UN peace operations, the Nepali Army has high respect and regard for fundamental principles of neutrality and impartiality of the United Nations. “Agendas of common concern were discussed during the meeting,” the statement said. UNMIN Spokesperson Kosmos Bishwokarma said the discussion focused on “contemporary issues.”
Posted on: 2010-08-31 09:03
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