News Notes (Spotlight Weekly)

Maoists Close Down Their Contact Office, Leaders Go Underground

In a dramatic development on Sunday (July 20), Bharat Dhungana, secretary of the contact office of the Maoists, said that the office has been closed down. In a press statement, Dhungana said the office could not be continued ëin a situation when he was being put under round the clock surveillance'. The closure of the contact office, which was set up by the rebels in April, is seen as an ominous sign coming at a time when the environment of the third round of peace talks continues to be damaged. Kamal Thapa, government spokesperson and a member of its talks team, said that there was no justification for the closure of the office. He said the government was willing to provide all kinds of assistance to re-open it. He also reiterated the government's guarantee to provide security to the members of the Maoist talks team. In another development, sources said that all the members of the Maoist talks team have gone underground. The leaders will not come out in the open unless the government ëproves in action that it will provide security'. Likewise, the office of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU- Revolutionary) has also been closed down. Meanwhile, the defense ministry has said that it has alerted security forces across the country. Compiled from reports.

Third Meeting Of Members Of House Reject Budget

The third meeting of the members of the dissolved House of Representatives held on July 20 at National Theater rejected the budget unanimously. Girija Prasad Koirala, former prime minister and chair of the meeting, said the budget was not aimed at the welfare of farmers. He added that economy should be guided by politics. Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Unified Marxist Leninist, said their agitation will continue until the government of Surya Bahadur Thapa is replaced. Leading dailies report.

Nepal Should Not Send Troops To Iraq: UML

Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), has said that the country should not send its troops to Iraq under the command of the United States (US) or the United Kingdom (UK). He said, however, that he had no qualms about sending the troops under the aegis of the United Nations (UN). He pointed to the controversies in the US and UK itself regarding the current troops deployment in Iraq and added that Nepal will lose its credibility in the international arena if it sends its troops in this situation. The US government had requested for troops from 40 countries including Nepal more than a month ago. India has already rejected the US request. Nepalese government, however, has seemed favorable to the US request. Rajdhani daily reports.

Nepal Reaches To Semi Final Of U 19 Youth Asia Cup

Nepalese youngsters defeated the fancied United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 8 wickets on Sunday (July 20) in Karachi, Pakistan to reach to the semi finals of the Under 19 Youth Asia Cup tournament. The UAE could get only 78 runs in 39 overs of the 50 overs match. Nepalese batsmen overcame the target in 15.1 over losing only two wickets. Nepal will have to play its last league match with Singapore on Tuesday. Nepal is the defending champion of the tournament. Leading dailies report.

Rijal Calls For Indian Participation

Tek Nath Rijal, leader of democratic movement of Bhutanese, has said that India has to participate in the talks to reach concrete results in the refugee problem. Meanwhile, Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, Nepal's residential ambassador to India is traveling to Thimpu on July 21 for three day visit. He is also accredited as Nepalese ambassador to Bhutan. His visit comes at a time when the Druk National Assembly has been clamoring to prevent the repatriation of refugees and there is growing international concern over the report of Joint Verification Team (JVT). Annapurna Post daily reports.

Bhutanese National Assembly Raises Obstructions

The National Assembly of Bhutan has asked the Druk government to prevent the repatriation of the second and third category of refugees at all cost. It asked the government to repatriate only the first category of refugees cautioning the government to clear everything before granting them citizenship. Bhutanese foreign minister Jigme Thinley said that the Joint Verification Team (JVT) would start distributing applications for Nepali citizenship to those who fell under the second category in the Khudunabari camp from the last week of August. The parliamentarians of the Druk National Assembly have asked the government to prevent "anti-nationals" from returning to Bhutan. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has requested the early repatriation of Bhutanese refugees as per the international law and human rights. It raised concern over the verification process and result saying that the legal status of the 70.5 percent of the refugees at Khudunabari camp was unclear. Already, the American ambassador, German ambassador, international human rights organizations have criticized the JVT report. Leading dailies report.

Major Conference Of Non Resident Nepalis In October

With the objective of mobilizing the Non Resident Nepalis (NRN) for increasing the investment and expanding nation's culture and image, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCC), along with His Majesty's Government (HMG) and NRN International Coordination Committee (ICC), will host a major conference in October 11-14 in Kathmandu. "There are lots of Nepalese who have made tremendous progress in various sectors like business, trade, arts and so on in different countries around the world. We would like them to bring together and find out ways to benefit from them," said Binod Bahadur Shrestha, acting president of FNCCI. "There are at least 800,000 NRNS living in different parts of the world. This is a huge pool of resource for Nepal," said Dr. Upendra Mahato, a NRN who is a big name in business in Russia. Dr. Mahato is also the chairman of ICC. The organizers expect at least 300 NRN to participate in the conference. Compiled from reports.

Differences Patched In The UML

The central committee meeting of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) party agreed to address some of the issues raised by dissident leader Khadga Prasad Oli, thereby, ending the long-drawn differences within the party. The central committee conceded its mistake in not including the word ëcommunism' along with socialism as the party's destination in the statute. "The central committee accepts the mistake while printing the statute," said a press statement issued by the party. The central committee also decided to adjust members of the dissident group in various party posts. "I am happy with all these developments and this will contribute to long term unity of the party," said Oli. Compiled from reports.

Badal Flies To Nepalgunj

Armed with the official letter from the government requesting them to come for the third round of talks, Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, a politburo member and a member of the Maoist talks team, left Kathmandu on Tuesday (July 15) for Nepalgunj, in the western Nepal. Badal said he will submit the letter to the ëparty high command', which will make the decision on whether to sit for the third talks and if yes, when. Leading dailies report.

Maoist Importing Arms

Security forces of far western district of Kailali have said that the rebels are bringing in weapons through different points of the district. The security sources said they have seized some quantities of the weapons together with papers linking them to the Indian extremists like People's War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Center (MCC). The source, however, said that the security forces have been unable to seize any huge quantity of weapons. The source said that the weapons are transported using Indians across the border and is transported by the rebels once they enter Nepalese territory. The source said the rebels are also importing lethal weapons like AK 47 and SLR guns, mortars and modern arms. In the absence of security base camp in border area, the rebels are having a free run there, said the source. The SSB force in the Indian side, too, has been unable to check the arms movement by the rebels. Kantipur daily reports.

RIM Concludes Its South Asia Conference

The fifth South Asian conference of the Revolutionary International Movement (RIM), the organization of Maoist organizations of the world, concluded recently expressing strong solidarity with the Nepalese Maoists. The conference, held somewhere in the Bihar-Orissa-Chattisgarh-Jharkhand area in July, passed the slogan of "Extend Hand To Nepal". During the conference, Nepalese Maoists presented their achievements. The conference passed a resolution stating that the ëNepalese Maoist movement posed challenges not only to Nepalese rulers but also the Indian hegemonists and American imperialists'. The organizations and representatives participating in the conference have stressed on the need to build strong people's movement against attempts of military intervention in Nepal. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports.

Military Court Sends An Army Personnel To 7 Yrs In Jail

In what is seen as a significant decision regarding human rights, the military court of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has sentenced army personnel to seven years in jail for killing two persons a year ago during emergency. Gyan Bahadur Tharu, junior army personnel, had killed Bhoj Bahadur Karki and Top Bahadur Karki, a father and a son, at Manpur Koili VDC of Bardiya, charging them of being Maoists and for making explosives. A case was filed at the human rights cell at the RNA against the killing of Karki duo. A detailed probe showed that Tharu had killed them due to personal enmity. The family of Tharu, a resident of the same village, had long running and bitter relations with their neighbor Karki. Tharu settled his personal score by taking cover in the operation against the insurgents. Meanwhile, a high level source at the RNA said that it is investigating ten serious cases of human rights abuse currently. Leading dailies report.

Police Apprehend Dhungana

Plainclothes police apprehended Bharat Dhungana, secretary of the Maoist contact office in Anamnagar on Thursday (July 17) afternoon from Patan area. According to Dhungana, he was blindfolded and interrogated for nearly two hours about donation collected by Maoists and cases filed at the contact office. He was later let off in the presence of journalists. Dhungana said that the latest government action would make it difficult for the Maoist leaders to come to Kathmandu for the third round of talks unless it guarantees their security. Colonel Deepak Gurung, spokesperson at the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) expressed ignorance about the incident saying it was not the RNA that picked up Dhungana. Leading dailies report.