UML gen secy calls on Maoists for talks

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has urged the Maoists to agree for peace talks to find a negotiated settlement to the problem.

"The government is fully ready for peace talks. It is about time the Maoists also made up their mind for peace talks," Nepal said addressing a gathering of party cadres at the party headquarters, Balkhu.

He made it known that top Maoist leaders, during a meeting with him in India’s Lakhnow a few months ago, had agreed to the idea of peace talks. "The situation has become favorable now," Nepal said.

Expressing the view that government-Maoist talks in the past failed due to lack of homework, Nepal urged caution that the talks this time around should not end in deadlock.

The UML leader who is a member of the five-member Peace Committee led by the prime minister revealed that the committee was going to make public its plans and policies within a week.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhilkari today informed that the government was going to form the Peace Secretariat very soon with an aim to coordinate the efforts for talks.

"Once the Peace Secretariat comes into existence, people will get to know what the government is doing to on the talks front," he said speaking a program in Sindhupalchowk. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 14 04

Related news
- Govt forms Peace Committee
- FNCCI lobbies for resumption of peace talks

Govt declares security alert

The government has said security forces have been kept alert in urban centers, highways and other sensitive areas in order to avert violent and destructive activities.

Issuing a statement Saturday, the Home Ministry said the security agencies at the center as well as in regional headquarters have been ordered to stay alert.

Saying that the government would take all necessary steps to maintain peace and security, the ministry has assured that prompt security would be provided to anybody on request. 

Requesting for support in the government’s drive to maintain peace and security, the ministry urged the businessmen, transporters, school operators and others to continue their businesses as usual and without fear.

The Home Ministry statement comes amid rumors of an embargo announced by the CPN-Maoist in the major entry points around the Kathmandu Valley. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 14 04

Related news
- Confusion galore regarding the 'blockade' of the capital

One policeman, civilian killed in ambush

One policeman and a villager were killed when an ambush laid by the Maoists went off at Dhamaura area in Mahottari district Saturday.

According to reports, the Maoists had detonated the ambush targeting a team of security forces that had gone to the area for patrol. Policeman Chhannu Mahato and Hasim Seikh, a villager of Dhamaura VDC-9, were killed on the spot. The ambush was laid on the road.

Meanwhile, the Maoists abducted three persons including a teacher named Dharma Raj Karki from Kunathali area in Surkhet Friday evening. The reason behind the abduction is not known, reports said. nepalnews.com mbk Aug 14 04 

Related news
- Three soldiers killed in clash with rebels

President Bush greets PM Deuba

In a belated greeting, President of the United States, George W. Bush, has congratulated Sher Bahadur Deuba for being appointed to the post of prime minister of His Majesty's Government of Nepal.

US envoy in Kathmandu, James F. Moriarty, handed the message to premier Deuba on Friday.

In the message, president Bush said, "There is much work to be done and your recent achievements in bringing into the government some of the major political parties is a significant step forward in setting up a structure to achieve those goals."

The US president promised to continue his country's support to the prime minister in his efforts to "bring to closure to the on-going Maoist rebellion," reports said. nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04 

Indian police file charges against senior Maoist leaders

Indian police have slapped additional charges against two senior Nepali Maoist leaders, Mohan Baidya, and C P Gajurel, reports said.

Indian Police at Jalpaiguri in the West Bengal state of India have lodged fresh charges against both of them on charges of assisting Indian Maoist groups. 

The police have filed cases against Baidya, Ashok Subba, Pradip Mijar and Narayan Bikram Pradhan—an Indian national, on charges of assisting terrorist actions of Indian Naxalites in Bhaktinagar area of Jalpaigudi on May 17 this year, Rajdhani daily reported Saturday quoting Baidya's lawyer, Anup Mitra.

Baidya was arrested in Jalpaigudi, West Bengal, in March this year while Gajurel was arrested in August last year on charges of carrying a fake British passport at the Chennai airport. nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04

Related News
- Indian court rejects bail to Maoist leader
- CP Gajurel willing to come to Nepal

Three soldiers killed in clash with rebels

Three soldiers on a patrol from Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve have been killed when a group of armed rebels hiding in local houses opened fire on them at Ratanpur area in the far western district of Kanchanpur Friday.

The casualty on the part of rebels in the shootout that followed could not be determined, reports said quoting security sources. nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04

Related News
- A soldier killed, two injured in an attack

NC president says he might seek re-election

The octogenarian leader of Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has hinted that he might seek re-election for the party's top job in the forthcoming general convention of the more than five-decade old party. 

Talking to reporters in his home town, Biratnagar, on Friday, Mr. Koirala said the party's statute doesn't bar him from seeking re-election if he so desires.

The NS's statute bars any person from seeking re-election for the third time after heading the party continuously for the two tenures. Koirala was elected to the top job after the NC's statute was passed in the last general convention of the party.

"Now, I am going to meet party workers all over the country. If they insist, I will not back down from my responsibilities," the 81-year-old Koirala declared.

A veteran politician who usually courts controversy, Koirala had recently announced that his mission was to bring the Maoists to the table of negotiations and bring the King back into the fold of constitution.

Koirala's Nepali Congress party is spearheading what it calls 'anti-regression' movement against the royal move of October 4, 2002. 

King Gyanendra re-appointed Sher Bahadur Deuba as the prime minister in June this year whom he had sacked nearly 20 months ago. nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04

Related News
- Shailaja Acharya declares candidacy for the post of NC President

NHRC visits Dang hospital for investigation

A team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Nepal visited the district hospital at Ghorahi in Dang district Friday in order to probe the clash between security forces and Maoist rebels at the emergency ward of the hospital early this week.

Nobody was injured in the incident but patients and staff at the hospital had to run for cover during the shoot out.

A team comprising NHRC members Dr. Gauri Shanker Lal Das and Sushil Pyakuryal inspected the site of the shoot out and gathered information from various sources.

Local police said the incident occurred when the rebels opened fire on a group of security personnel who had gone to escort a sick policeman undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Health workers in the district expressed regret over the incident and have urged both the parties in the conflict to declare health institutions as 'zones of peace.' nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04

Related News
- Shoot out at hospital premises in Dang

Maoists 'execute' their former local leader

Maoist rebels have killed their former local leader, Patiram Yadav, at Bhateriya forest area in Bela VDC of Dang district on charge of raping a dalit girl.

Yadav was an active member of the underground party. Nobody had taken away his body from the jungle until Friday, reports said. nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04

CIAA files cases of corruption against three former police chiefs

In what is seen as a major anti-corruption drive, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed cases against three former chiefs of Nepal Police, Moti Lal Bohara, Pradip Shumsher JB Rana and Achyut Krishna Kharel at a Special Court in Kathmandu.

In its petition to the court, the anti-corruption watchdog accused the three former police chiefs of amassing property disproportionate to their sources of income and taking undue advantage of their positions while working as head of Nepal police, among others.

In separate charge sheets filed at the court on Friday, the CIAA alleged that former Inspector General of Police, Pradip Shumsher JB Rana had amassed property worth Rs 37.781 million, former police chief Moti Lal Bohara had amassed property worth Rs 23.8 million and former police chief Achyut Krishna Kharel had amassed property worth Rs 16.336 million illegally.

The CIAA sources said all three former police chiefs are 'at large.' The constitutional body had summoned them to its office on Thursday as part of its investigation but none of them turned up.

The Commission has said that ex-police chief Rana has over six ropanis of premium land in Kathmandu, 16 bighas of land in Rautahat district, a number of posh buildings and several plots of lands in different parts of the country.

Similarly, former police chief Bohara has cash deposits in various banks and land in different parts of the country. Another former police chief Kharel owns three bungalows in Kathmandu and Chitwan worth over Rs 8.4 million, land worth Rs 10 million in Kathmandu, Chitwan and Kavrepalanchok, cash deposits in various banks and property in various parts of the country.

The CIAA has demanded confiscation of what it calls illegal properties amassed by these former police chiefs, fine amount commensurate to the property and maximum possible jail sentence to all three of them. 

The Commission also filed a separate case against senior divisional engineer at the Department of Roads, Dilli Raman Niroula, of possessing property disproportionate to his source of income at the Special Court on Friday. nepalnews.com by Aug 14 04

Related News
- CIAA demands action on Wagle
- CIAA files graft case against ex-officials