Kathmandu - A senior United Nations official said Friday
that Nepal faced multiple challenges to its peace process despite
making tremendous progress in ending its decadelong conflict that
pitted the government against Maoist rebels.
While the election in April of a constituent assembly was a
landmark achievement, major hurdles lie ahead for the successful
conclusion of the peace process, said Ian Martin, the head of United
Nations Mission in Nepal.
'Sustaining peace requires efforts to heal the wounds of the
conflict - to clarify the fate of those who disappeared, compensate
victims, enable the return of displaced persons to their homes and to
end impunity,' Martin said.
Martin also called for a speedy resolution of the future of Maoist
combatants who have remained in 21 UN-run camps spread across the
Himalayan nation.
'No peace process can be said to be complete while there are two
armies in one country,' Martin said. 'I hope that the efforts to
integrate and rehabilitate Maoist combatants on a multiparty basis,
as agreed, will soon be successful.'
The issue of integrating former guerilla fighters into the
national army has been embroiled in controversy with major political
parties opposing the large-scale integration.
The Nepali Congress, the main opposition party in the assembly,
has accused the ruling Maoists of trying to flood the army with its
cadres and eventually tighten its grip on power.
Of the original 31,000 Maoist combatants, just more than 19,000
passed the rigid verification process conducted by the United Nations.
Disqualified combatants included nearly 4,000 minors and those
recruited by the Maoists after a ceasefire announcement in May 2006.
The fate of disqualified combatants also remained unclear although
there was an agreement to discharge and rehabilitate them.
'The UN has resumed discussions with the Maoist-led government and
with the Maoist combatants about the need for speedy discharge of
those who failed verification and still remain in the cantonments,'
or UN camps, Martin said.
Maoist formally gave up fighting following the toppling of the
King Gyanendra's government in April 2006 in a mass protest movement.
They signed a peace deal with the government in November of the
same year and joined mainstream politics.
The Maoists emerged as the single largest party in the constituent
assembly in April elections. The assembly voted overwhelmingly to
abolish the monarchy two months later.
The constituent assembly is responsible for drafting a new
constitution within two and half years as well as act as a parliament.
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