We are capable of monitoring the management of arms, says GAESO official

A senior ex-army official of British Gurkhas has claimed that the ex-servicemen are quite capable and willing to monitor the management of arms and armies.

In response to reports that Maoist chairman Prachanda requested Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, on Wednesday, to involve ex-servicemen belonging to British and Indian Gurkhas to start the management of arms and armies, central secretary of Gurkha Ex Servicemen Organization (GAESO) Mahendra Lal Rai told Nepal FM this morning that he feels "proud" that the leaders have finally thought that they are capable to do it.

Prachanda's proposal was made after the United Nations admitted it could take weeks for its monitors to actually start the job on the ground. Its technical assessment team is due for arrival within a week while the recruitment of its advance deployment (of monitors from several countries) is just underway.

Prachanda in his meeting with PM Koirala is learnt to have broached up the proposal of involving ex servicemen to expedite the management till the UN monitors arrive. The proposal was made because any delay in management of arms could result in postponement of other works such as interim government forming as well as the elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA), which have to be held by mid-June 2007. The government has not made any official comment about this but reports say both sides would take up this issue with Ian Martin, personal representative of UN Secretary General.

"We are quite capable of handling all kinds of modern weapons. Here, we have seen that most weapons that will have to be managed belong to the 1960s era," said Rai, claiming that ex servicemen are technically capable of doing the job. "Besides, we have lots of experience of being involved in internal strife and wars," he added.

Rai, however, said that none of the political leaders including Prachanda have talked with them about this proposal. "In fact, we ourselves had held informal talks about this thing," he added. nepalnews.com sd Dec 07 06