Bhutan ready for talks on refugee stalemate: Mahat 

State minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat Sunday said Bhutan has agreed to hold talks to start the repatriation process of Bhutani refugees languishing in seven camps in Eastern Nepal. 

Talking to reporters at the Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival from Bangkok this afternoon after participating at the BIMST-EC summit, Mahat informed that the Bhutanese prime minister has expressed readiness for negotiations on the repatriation process that remains stalled for over nine months. 

“As soon as some procedural matters get settled, bilateral talks can begin,” he said informing that the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had talked to his Bhutani counterpart on the sidelines of the summit.

Dr Mahat also claimed that the BIMST-EC summit was very successful in the sense that a number of multilateral agreements have been reached on issues like trade, security and tourism. 

At the summit, according to him, the Nepalese side strongly lobbied to get the facilities available to least developed countries. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 01 04 

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Peace secretariat in the offing: Minister

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Deep Kumar Upadhyaya Sunday revealed that a peace secretariat was in the pipeline. 

Speaking at a program in the capital, Upadhyaya said the government would have it easy to handle its peace efforts through the peace secretariat. He said: “The government has already started homework for peace talks with the Maoists. The peace secretariat is being established as part of the coordinating these efforts.”

Upadhyaya was of the view that the government would immediately gear up for general elections if its peace efforts do not yield results. While saying so, he also made it a point to criticize the Maoists for the delays in the peace process.

“They are not serious for talks,” he declared, adding, “The Maoists are talking about UN mediation because they are on the lookout for international recognition.” He opined that the mediation from the UN or any other international organization would not be a practical way to resolve the crisis.

Speaking at a same program, minister for Population and Environment Bachaspati Devkota maintained that the government would also impart some lessons from the talks failure in the past before moving ahead for talks. “There is no use going for talks without preparations,” he said. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 01 04

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Three army men killed in landmine blast 

Three Royal Nepalese Army soldiers were killed in a landmine explosion in Palpa Sunday afternoon. 

According to reports, the blast had occurred on the road at Chuchebari area situated between Padanpokhara and Tansen. Three soldiers were killed on the spot while another soldier was seriously injured. 

About half an hour earlier, the Maoists had exploded an ambush targeting the same security team at Bhalebas but that did not cause any damage.

The injured soldier and the dead bodies have been airlifted to Kathmandu. A search operation has been intensified in the area, the reports further said. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 01 04

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Mountaineer Mingma Sherpa abducted from capital

An unidentified group posing as security men abducted Mingma Sherpa, a seasoned mountaineer, from his residence at Bouddha on Friday night.

According to family sources, the 'security men' who barged into Sherpa's apartment at around 10:00PM took him away at around 11:00PM saying they had to interrogate him. They, however, did not reveal the charges against him.

Security agencies remain mum about the abduction of Sherpa who has already scaled Everest 10 times.

Meanwhile, issuing a press statement, Sherpa's family members have urged human rights activists and the media to help for his safe release. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 01 04

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Nepal participating in heritage festival

Nepal is participating in the World's Largest Multicultural Heritage Festival in Edmonton Canada, the Nepalese Canadian Society of Edmonton said. According to the press release issued by the society, 1800 square feet of area is being used in the festival to promote Nepal.

900 square feet is being used to serve Nepali ethnic foods like kalo daal, bhaat, aalo ko tarkari, chicken curry, momo, aalo chop and Nepali tea, to visitors. In the remaining 900 square feet, different Nepalese business groups from Calgary, Saskatoon, and Edmonton are selling Nepali handicrafts, crafts, costumes and thankas, amongst others. 

The tents are decorated with the posters of Mount Everest, Pashupatinath Temple, Swaymbhunath, Goddess Kumari, Gautam Buddha and Nyatapola, the release added. A video film, "Mount Everest and More" is being demonstrated and publicity materials, maps, bookmarks are being exhibited and distributed. Various Nepali music and songs are also played in the festival. 

More than 52 countries representing half of the world's nations and cultures are participating in the spirit of the ethnic identity where over 350, 000 visitors were expected. The festival concludes on August 2. nepalnews.com pd Aug 01 04 

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Conflict resolution not possible within this constitution: MK Nepal

General Secretary of the CPN-UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal said there was no possibility of resolving the current insurgency in the country by remaining within the periphery of the present constitution.

Requesting the government to open all options in addressing the ongoing conflict, Nepal said, "I suggest the government be guided by democracy, not by the constitutional clauses and articles."

He said, "Any options among constituent assembly elections, referendum or other possibilities within or outside the constitution must be adopted in resolving the armed conflict in the country."

Nepal said this while speaking at a program marking the 12th memorial day of human rights activist Prakash Kafle in Kathmandu Saturday. nepalnews.com pd Aug 01 04

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BIMST-EC concludes

The first summit of the BIMST-EC concluded Saturday with a BIMST-EC Summit declaration that focuses on specific areas of cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, transport, communications, tourism, energy and human resource development amongst others.

The summit also agreed that the groupings would, from now on, be known as Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC).

Moreover, the summit set an urgent priority for the BIMST-EC members to coordinate their efforts to combat international terrorism and intercontinental crimes.

Addressing the first BIMST-EC summit held in the Thai capital on Saturday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said Nepal attaches special significance to the promotion of economic cooperation in the region. "We need sincere and concerted endeavors to formulate and implement special projects in these agreed areas of cooperation," Deuba added.

Saying that the region was very rich in bio-diversity, PM Deuba said, cooperation in this area would bring huge benefits to the people.

The seven-year-old regional grouping now includes Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. nepalnews.com pd Aug 01 04

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King Gyanendra felicitates Swiss president

King Gyanendra has felicitated Joseph Deiss, president of the Swiss Confederation on the occasion of the foundation of the Swiss Confederation.

In a message, the king has on behalf of the government of Nepal and his own, extended cordial felicitations for president's personal health and happiness as well as for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of Switzerland. nepalnews.com pd Aug 01 04

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Maoists to arm locals in West Nepal

The Maoists are preparing to distribute arms to civilians in west Nepal in order to strengthen the people’s revolution, a daily quoting Maoist politburo member Prabhakar said Sunday.

According to Prabhakar, who is also the Seti-Mahakali Regional Organization Committee-in-charge, the  weapons stored in a godown in Kalikot district will soon be distributed to people living in west Nepal, The Himalayan Times said. 

The politburo member added that the party has decided to arm the people as they (people) would be fighting the last war themselves, the daily added. Prabhakar said this while inaugurating the People’s Army Movement (Unified Command) in the Binayak region of Achham district.

Meanwhile, talking to Nepalnews, a Kathmandu based high level official of the Royal Nepalese Army dismissed the Maoist claim. “It is no more than a Maoist propaganda. Security forces are in control of Kalikot district.” nepalnews.com pd Aug 01 04

NC veterans discuss party unity

Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and NC founding member Krishna Prasad Bhattarai Saturday held a meeting in the latter’s residence and discussed party unification, reports said Sunday.

According to reports, NC central leader Khum Bahadur Khadka accompanied Koirala to Bhattarai's residence to discuss the unification.

In addition to party unification, the meeting was focused on the current conflict dogging the country.

In a brief conversation with media men, Koirala admitted that talks regarding party unification were held during the meeting. Bhattarai suggested Koirala to begin talks on party unity after the president of its breakaway faction NC-Democratic and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returns home, it is learnt. He however, said that the party unity is the need of the hour.

President of the ruling NC-D and PM Deuba left for the Thai capital Thursday afternoon to attend the summit of BIMST-EC .  nepalnews.com pd Aug 01 04

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