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UN
starts process of disarming Nepalese ex-combatants
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New
York, 17 January 2007 (UN News)
The
United Nations has begun registering and storing weapons of Maoist former
combatants in Nepal, marking a new phase in the peace process following
last year's comprehensive agreement ending the long-running civil war in
the Himalayan country.
The
Office of the Secretary-General's Personal Representative in Nepal, Ian
Martin, said the registration and storage process is under way at two of
seven designated cantonment sites across the nation.
UN
arms monitors have been present at both sites, and registration at the
remaining five is expected to begin early next week. The process has been
made possible by the advance deployment of 35 monitors approved by the
Security Council last month.
The
first day of registration went very well thanks to "excellent cooperation"
between the Maoists and UN monitors, said General Jan Erik Wilhelmsen,
a UN military adviser in Nepal who visited the cantonment site in Chitwan,
south of the capital Kathmandu.
The
UN arms monitors are being supported by an interim task force of former
Nepalese soldiers from the Indian and British armies.
The
disarmament of former combatants is one of the steps being taken by the
UN in support of the peace accord signed in November by the Nepalese Government
and Maoist rebels who had been conducting an insurgency for a decade. More
than 13,000 people are estimated to have been killed during the conflict,
and thousands more have been displaced from their homes.
Last
week, in a report to the Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
recommended that a small UN political mission comprising unarmed military
inspectors, electoral exports, and police and civil administration teams
be established to monitor the peace agreement.
top
Source:
UN News 2007
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