KATHMANDU, Aug 9
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala assured a civil society delegation Tuesday that a joint letter to the United Nations would be sent by Wednesday, according to a civil society leader.
"There are only minor differences [between the government and the Maoists] over the issue of sending a joint letter to the UN," Koirala told the delegation, said prominent civil society leader Dr. Devendra Raj Panday. "It [the differences] will be bridged."
The prime minister also said that the letter would be sent on Wednesday.
A UN assessment mission had returned to New York last week virtually empty-handed after the government and the Maoists couldn't come up with a common understanding on managing Maoist arms with possible UN assistance.
Koirala, however, couldn't convince the civil society leaders over his controversial remark about giving political space to the king. "We didn't get a convincing answer in this regard," Dr. Panday said.
The seven-member delegation of the Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP) had handed him a memorandum demanding, among other things, implementation of the eight-point agreement and the ceasefire Code of Conduct in letter and spirit.
Earlier, various members of civil society had marched about a kilometer to get to the PM's official residence and hand over the memorandum.
The memorandum has also demanded the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) as agreed in the eight-point pact.
"As you are well aware, we citizens were forced to take to the streets earlier also when there were direct indications of undermining the aspirations of the people," the memorandum said. "However, the time to lead the peace talks to a logical end hasn't lapsed as yet," it suggested.
The memorandum has also demanded action against army officers involved in suppressing the peaceful demonstrations in April. It has sought immediate announcement of dates for the constituent assembly elections.
Posted on: 2006-08-08 21:21:53 (Server Time)
"There are only minor differences [between the government and the Maoists] over the issue of sending a joint letter to the UN," Koirala told the delegation, said prominent civil society leader Dr. Devendra Raj Panday. "It [the differences] will be bridged."
The prime minister also said that the letter would be sent on Wednesday.
A UN assessment mission had returned to New York last week virtually empty-handed after the government and the Maoists couldn't come up with a common understanding on managing Maoist arms with possible UN assistance.
Koirala, however, couldn't convince the civil society leaders over his controversial remark about giving political space to the king. "We didn't get a convincing answer in this regard," Dr. Panday said.
The seven-member delegation of the Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP) had handed him a memorandum demanding, among other things, implementation of the eight-point agreement and the ceasefire Code of Conduct in letter and spirit.
Earlier, various members of civil society had marched about a kilometer to get to the PM's official residence and hand over the memorandum.
The memorandum has also demanded the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) as agreed in the eight-point pact.
"As you are well aware, we citizens were forced to take to the streets earlier also when there were direct indications of undermining the aspirations of the people," the memorandum said. "However, the time to lead the peace talks to a logical end hasn't lapsed as yet," it suggested.
The memorandum has also demanded action against army officers involved in suppressing the peaceful demonstrations in April. It has sought immediate announcement of dates for the constituent assembly elections.
Posted on: 2006-08-08 21:21:53 (Server Time)
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