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Nepalese Maoists ready for arms management before joining Govt

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Kathmandu, June 22, IRNA
Nepal-Maoists-Arms Management
Clearing doubts on whether they would lay down arms, a senior Maoist leader has said the rebels were ready to manage their weapons under UN supervision even as Nepal government promised to bear the expenses of some 10,000 cadre once they disarm.

Assuring that the CPN-Maoist was ready to manage their arms under UN supervision before joining an interim government that would hold the Constitutional Assembly polls, Dinanath Sharma, a member of the rebel peace talks team, said, "if the management of weapons is the only hurdle to talks, I don't think that the peace process would break," a PTI report said here.

The eight-point agreement reached between government and Maoists after talks between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist Chief Prachanda was "historic and remarkable," he told an interaction program in Kathmandu, Wednesday.

Separately, Home Minister and government's chief negotiator Krishna Sitoula said government and Maoists have agreed to send a letter to the UN for arms monitoring.

He also said the government can bear the expenses of the Maoists' 10,000 plus 'People's Liberation Army' during arms monitoring by the UN.

"We are preparing to send a request to the UN for arms monitoring and after that government can consider feeding the Maoists in barracks," he told reporters in Pokhara yesterday.

Noting that the eight-point agreement was based on a 12-point understanding they had made last November before launching a joint agitation against King Gyanendra's absolute rule, he said the pact would draw the roadmap of new Nepal by settling the decade-long conflict.

Nepal's Congress general secretary Ramchandra Poudyal has said the arms of Maoists must be managed under reliable international agency before they could join the interim government.

He also said it would be sensible for the government to initiate discussion with the seven parties before arriving at any major decision while moving ahead with the peace process.

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