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Govt, Maoists agree on arms management accord (06:45 pm)

After five days of hectic deliberation, the government and the Maoists agreed on a tripartite deal (which also involves the United Nations) on management of arms and armies Tuesday evening.

A meeting between the representatives of the government and the Maoists settled the contentious issues including the number of the arms to be kept by the Maoist army for the security of their camps around the country and the issue whether military exercises should be allowed inside cantonments.

Government and Maoist negotiators had held two rounds of meetings at Hotel Sangrila, Lazimpat, before finalising the 16-page tripartite accord.

Government’s talks coordinator Home Minister Krishna Prasad Situala and Maoist talks coordinator Krishna Bahadur Mahara are signing the accord amidst a press meet at around 7:00 pm. The agreement would be disclosed at the press meet.

The draft of the agreement would be sent to the UN for approval.

Home Minister Situala, government’s talks team members ministers Pradeep Gyawali and Ramesh Lekhak represented the government side while Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’, talks coordinator Mahara and deputy commanders Pasang, Ananta, Baldev and Prabhakar represented the Maoist side.

Nepali Congress leader Dr Shekhar Koirala, UN’s John Norris and Jan Eric Wilhemson, Brigadier General of Nepal Army Shiva Ram Pradhan and AIG of Nepal Police Amar Singh Shah were also present at the meeting. nepalnews.com mk Nov 28 06