| Royal visit to the UN canceled: Reports
Reports say His Majesty King Gyanendra’s forthcoming visit to New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has been canceled. No reasons were given.
In a front-page news item, Kantipur daily reported that the royal palace on Monday instructed the Foreign Ministry to stop preparation for His Majesty’s visit to New York and Germany. The Foreign Ministry then informed the members of the royal entourage about the cancellation of the visit over phone.
When contacted by Nepalnews, Foreign Ministry officials said there was no question of cancellation of the trip as the visit was never announced in the first place.
An executive monarch, King Gyanendra was scheduled to leave Kathmandu for New York leading a Nepali delegation to take part in the 60th UNGA on Friday. He was scheduled to arrive at New York on Sep. 14 and address the General Assembly two days later.
On the way to New York, His Majesty was scheduled to address a meeting of Royal Nepalese ambassadors based in Europe.
The palace has already informed the state-owned Royal Nepal Airlines that the aircraft is no longer needed for the royal visit.
The Foreign Ministry had arranged Rs 102 million for the royal visit.
Kantipur daily quoted sources as saying that Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey will now lead the Nepali delegation to the UN General Assembly. The government is yet to finalise the list of delegates to the meeting.
There has been no formal announcement as yet regarding the Nepali delegation to the UNGA.
‘Nepal Road Show’-- the programme being organised jointly by Nepal Tourism Board and Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs—in various US cities coinciding with the royal visit has also been canceled, reports said.
Domestic and external factors may have led the cancellation of the high-profile royal visit to the UN, reports say quoting sources. The US envoy recently said that US President George W. Bush was unlikely to meet the Nepalese monarch.
Foreign ministry officials also failed to organize meetings between heads of governments of various western countries and the king. A number of Nepali and international organizations were reportedly planning to organize demonstrations in New York and other American cities protesting the seven-month-old royal takeover and calling for restoration of peace and democracy in Nepal.
The proposed visit to the UN by King Gyanendra also sparked unprecedented controversy within the country. Addressing a mass meeting in Kathmandu Saturday, former premier and Nepali Congress president, Girija Prasad Koirala, called upon UN Secretary General not to allow the Nepalese monarch to address the UNGA “since he did not represent Nepali people."
The seven party opposition alliance was scheduled to hand over a memorandum to Mr Annan through UN office system in Kathmandu on Tuesday calling upon the UN not to entertain any representative of the royal government.
Though the call was least likely to have any impact on the proceedings of the UN, analysts say the controversy pointed towards a complete `showdown’ between the royal government and the opposition parties in the country. nepalnews.com by Sep 06 05
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