Thapa faction plans strategy

Loyalists of Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa have formed a committee to fight opponents in the party who have called for the government chief's resignation.

A committee under the covenership of Tourism Minister Sarbendra Nath Sukla has been formed to draw out strategies to fight the faction loyal to RPP President Pashupati SJB Rana; other members of the committee are Minister for Social Welfare Renu Yadav, Parsuram Khapung, Bhuvan Pathak, Pradip Udaya, Nilkantha Kafle, Govinda Bikram Shah, Chandra Bahadur Gurung and Binod Bista.

The committee was formed at a meeting in the house of Minister for Physical Planning Buddhiman Tamang.

Meanwhile, Rana said he is talking with leaders of other parties to form an all party government. Government loyalists Monday boycotted a central committee meeting of the RPP held at party headquarters under chairmanship of Rana. nepalnews.com br Nov.25

Maoist warning against ex-minister KC

Maoists have threatened ex-minister Bal Bahadur KC and former member of the parliament (MP) Homnath Dahal of "physical action", if they do not contact the local Maoist leaders of their respective districts immediately, Rajdhani daily said Tuesday.

"Nepali Congress (Democratic) made the Maoists' threats public during a meeting with the human rights organisations organised at its party office Monday," the daily said.

KC and Dahal are central members of NC (D) led by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Dahal also holds the post of his party's spokesman. KC hails from Solokhumbu and Dahal is from Okhaldhunga.

The Maoists have already put padlocks at the houses of KC and Dahal, capturing land and other properties of the two in their respective districts, the daily said. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Raid in Maoist leader Sapkota's house

Local police of Dhanusha district Monday raided the rented house of Maoist leader Agni Prasad Sapkota in Janakpur, Space Time said Tuesday. 

Police discovered many "valuable" Maoist-related documents from the raid, the daily said. 

"This is the first time that such a hugh number of documents have been seized. It seems that the raided house was the headquarters of the Maoists' eastern region bureau," the daily said, quoting police involved in the raid.

More than half a dozen Maoist activists were arrested from the same house a few months ago, Space Time said. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Dalits' Commission member Pariyar passes away

Member of National Dalits' Commission and democracy fighter Ganesh Bahadur Pariyar passed away at his residence in Pokhara Saturday, RSS said Monday.

Pariyar, 71, was suffering from rheumatism. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Teachers lock TU VC office

The Tribhuvan University Part Time Teachers' Association Monday locked the main gate to the office of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) for an indefinite period, RSS said.

The teachers said the VC has not taken any initiative to fulfill their demands. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25 

45,000 pupils deprived of education in Achham

The "people's mobilisation" program run by the Maoists has barred 45,000 students in the district of Achham from attending schools, the Himalayan Times said Tuesday.

The daily, quoting district education officer Basudev Timilsena, said the Maoist program has affected schools located at Bayalpata, Safebagar and Mangalsen, the district headquarters.

A total of 257 primary schools, 46 lower secondary schools, 38 secondary schools, four higher-secondary schools and two campuses have been closed in the district, the daily said.

"Several areas in the district have been terrified after the Maoists forced the teachers and the students to close the schools."

In the first phase, the schools run under the Janjyoti secondary school resource centre were closed. No one is daring to open the schools because of insecurity, Maniram Buddha of the resource centre said. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Fire guts petrol godown

Property worth Rs.6 million was gutted when an unidentified gang of three torched a petroleum godown of the Kedia Group at Sripur in Birgunj-14, published reports said Tuesday.

The security guard of the godown said the group came on a motorbike, set ablaze the godown and fled the scene. Sanjay Kedia, proprietor of the godown said the group had torched it after taking the security guards under control, the reports said. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Constitutional Council recommends new names

Following the King's directive to "revise" the names recommended for the appointment of some constitutional heads, the Constitutional Council has forwarded the "revised" list to the King for final approval, Kantipur and the Kathmandu Post reported Tuesday.

According to the dailies, the Council has recommended three names for a single post of Chief Election Commissioner. 

"On priority basis, the three recommended names are former chief cabinet secretaries Keshav Raj Rajbhandari and Tirtha Man Shakya and former secretary Bhoj Raj Pokhrel," the dailies said, quoting sources.

"Earlier, the Council had recommended only the name of Pokhrel to the respective post."

The dailies, quoting unnamed constitutional experts, said, the Council should have recommended only one name to the King since he, as a constitutional monarch, has no personal preference on such appointments. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

UN envoy seeks Gurkhas' greater role in Iraq

Former Finnish president and United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari said Monday the UN needs crack troops, such as Nepali Gurkhas, in Iraq, to prevent attacks like the one that devastated its Baghdad offices in August, AP reported from Helsinki Monday.

"The presence for example of Nepali Gurkha soldiers or French foreign legionnaires should make potential attackers think twice," the online edition of newspaper "Hufvudstadsbladet" quoted him, as saying Monday, according to AP.

Ahtisaari, who was given the task by the UN of investigating the attack, said heavier protection was needed as long as support for Saddam Hussein was still in evidence.

"There are people that do not want to have any changes in Iraq. Since all evidence points out to the fact that Saddam Hussein is still alive, not all are convinced that the old times are left behind for good," Ahtisaari said. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Two Chinese airlines to fly to Nepal

Two Chinese airlines companies - Air China and China Eastern Airlines - are preparing to operate regular flights from three major Chinese cities to Kathmandu from early next year, the Kathmandu Post reported Tuesday.

The daily, quoting Nepali aviation officials, said, Air China has decided to fly from Chengdu to Kathmandu from March 2004, and China Eastern Airlines is preparing to operate from Beijing and Shanghai to Kathmandu from next year.

"We will be operating two flights per week in Kathmandu-Chengdu route from next summer," said Qiao Shuwen, General Manager of Air China Kathmandu Office.

"The two and a half hour long flight will fly via Lhasa," he said. The two-way fair in this route has been decided at US $ 580, the daily said. nepalnews.com mr Nov 25

Rights agencies demand fair monitoring

Seven international human rights organisations have strongly endorsed the call by the Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and eight Governmental donor agencies and Embassies in Kathmandu for international monitoring of the  human rights situation in Nepal and have urged the international community to fully support this appeal.

In a statement Monday, the organisations, Amnesty International, the Association for the Prevention of
Torture (APT), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT)  also have called on the Government of Nepal to extend invitations to visit the country to the human rights experts of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

The NHRC earlier issued a call for United Nations human rights experts, including those charged with examining arbitrary detention and torture, to visit the country. The NHCR has presented a proposal for a Human Rights Accord to the Government and the Maoist rebels which would provide for five NHRC regional monitoring units in the country to operate in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In the same joint statement, the Canadian Embassy, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the French Embassy, the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the Royal Danish Embassy, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Netherlands Development Organisation have expressed concern about “the rapidly
deteriorating human rights situation” and declared that there is an “urgent need” for the Government and the Maoist rebels to sign the proposed Human Rights Accord.

The Nepal Bar Association and many Nepalese human rights organisations have made similar calls for an international monitoring presence. nepalnews.com mr Nov.24

Bhutanese rights groups to urge refugee return

Seven Nepal-based Bhutanese human rights groups Monday unanimously agreed to urge refugees to return home after a two-day meet that concluded in the capital Monday.

The meeting chaired by rights activist Tek Nath Rijal was convened by Human Rights Council of Bhutan.
"The decision was a compulsion. We will urge refugees from Khundanabari to return while asking the international community to help," Rijal said.

The first group of 12,000 out of 100,000 refugees is scheduled to return home in February next year.
Refugees have been living in seven UNHCR-administered camps in Jhapa and Morang for 12 years. nepalnews.com br Nov.24

PM Thapa, Vajpayee meet

Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa met with his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his residence in New Delhi Monday, radio reports said. They discussed the forthcoming SAARC summit and bilateral relations. They met without aides for 10 minutes.

Special Foreign Ministry envoy Dr. Bhek Bahadur Thapa said the two government chiefs discussed security issues and PM Thapa also informed Vajpayee of government plans to hold elections. nepalnews.com br Nov.24

Nepal, China non-government forum meets

A two-day conference of Nepal-China Non-Governmental Forum began in the capital Monday. Members of FNCCI and its Chinese counterpart are participating.

The Forum was launched in 1996 during the visit of then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to China to promote private trade and investments. 

Inaugurating the conference, Minister Hari Bahadur Basnet said cordial relations between Nepal and China will help promote state and private investments. nepalnews.com br Nov.24

Eight Maoists killed, other details

Security forces shot dead six Maoists in three districts in fresh shoot-outs at unspecified dates, the Defence Ministry said Monday. Two more Maoists were shot dead at Gamharia in Rautahat Monday, a radio report said.

Three rebels were killed in Rolpa, two in Morang and one in Taplejung, the Ministry said. Security forces recovered pistols, socket and barrel bombs, explosives, documents and logistics support from the clash sites. 

Security forces shot dead two Maoists at Gamharia in Rautahat Monday, a radio report said. 

Police recovered a huge cache of explosives from Ganesh Carpet Factory in Bhaktapur Sunday, police said. Three persons have been arrested for investigation. 

Three policemen were killed and five others were injured in a rebel ambush at Mechinagar in Jhapa Monday, another radio report said. 

Two rebels were killed in a search Radio Nepal said. Security forces recovered 12 sacks of combat dresses from Lahan in Siraha Monday. 

The injured policemen in Jhapa are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dharan. Indian police have intercepted 500 rifle bullets being smuggled into Nepal from Raxaul, Radio Nepal said quoting Indian police. nepalnews.com br Nov.24