Arms registration and storage by United Nations monitors in the western part of Nepal has now been concluded, the world body's senior envoy to the Himalayan country confirmed today. Ian Martin, the Special Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made the announcement following a visit Friday to cantonment sites of the Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Kailali and Surkhet. He arrived at Kailali just as UN teams were registering and storing the arms of a final group of about 100 of the combatants based at the PLA seventh main cantonment site. He was joined on the ground by the senior UN arms monitor, General Jan Erik Wilhelmsen. Under the procedures established by agreement between the Government and Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), the arms were catalogued and bar-coded by registration teams before being stored on racks inside cargo containers. The containers are locked and subject to round-the-clock UN monitoring. Arms storage at Surkhet, which Mr. Martin toured later in the day, had been completed on Thursday. The envoy was received at Kailali by Commander Prajwal of the PLA and at Surkhet by Commander Pratik. Both expressed complaints of inadequate living conditions in the cantonments. "With only two sites to go in the East, arms registration and storage is now approaching its conclusion, and that will be an important staging post in the peace process. But the conditions in the cantonments are lagging behind. I intend to raise these concerns with the Government," Mr. Martin said. He was accompanied in his delegation by two UN experts in the disposal of mines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordinance. He was joined also by B.B. Gurung, Commander of the Interim Task Force. Composed of Nepali ex-servicemen from the Indian and British armies, the Interim Task Force has played a critical role in supplementing the advance group of UN arms monitors sent pending full deployment of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).
The United Nations envoy in Nepal today warmly welcomed planned talks between the Government, the country's indigenous peoples and the southern Nepalese who live in the dispute-wracked Terai region, but he also expressed deep concern at reports of recent attacks against political parties in the west of the country. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative, Ian Martin, who heads the UN Political Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), also reiterated the importance of all Nepalese society being involved in this year's planned elections, as the Himalayan country seeks to build on last year's historic peace deal with the Maoists aimed at ending 10 years of civil war. "I am pleased to begin today by welcoming the dialogue that is to take place between the Government team and representatives not only of Madhesi organisations but also of Janajatis," he said in a press statement, referring respectively to the southern Nepalese or Madhesis and the country's indigenous people. "The United Nations has stressed the importance of all groups, including women and Dalits (low-cast Hindus) as well as Madhesis and Janajatis, feeling that they will be adequately represented in the historic decisions to be made about the future of Nepal through the Constituent Assembly," he said, calling on all concerned to promote these legitimate demands through peaceful dialogue. Mr. Martin said that despite the recent disturbances in the Terai, UNMIN remained focused on its core task of managing the arms belonging to the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) and the Government, as stipulated in last November's peace deal between the two sides. In particular, he said he was satisfied with the monitoring of weapons at Kailali and Surkhet in the west, although there was still work to do. "During this week we will test the installation of 24-hour closed-circuit television surveillance," he noted. "An urgent issue is the safe disposal or storage of improvised explosive devices - mostly socket bombs - as well as the dismantling of Nepal Army minefields, and we now have two UN experts advising us and beginning discussions with the parties about how to proceed." Mr. Martin said he expected the number of UN monitors to climb to 66 by the end of this week from the current 48, adding that more equipment would also be arriving soon. He stressed that the UN wanted to see a peaceful, inclusive election, and expressed concern at reports of some voter rolls being seized and of attacks on two political parties in western Nepal. "The United Nations can only regard an electoral process as credible if people of all opinions are able to organize and campaign free of violence or intimidation," he said. "I am therefore extremely concerned at reports of attacks on two political parties seeking to exercise their rights in Lamjung and Tanahun Districts, respectively, on Saturday." The envoy said UNMIN and OHCHR (the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) will be closely monitoring the extent to which all parties respect the rights of others. At the same time, he called on them "to agree on an effective independent national monitoring body with which we can work." The Security Council established UNMIN last month, giving it a 12-month mandate that can be terminated or extended depending on a request from the Government. So far the initial team of monitors have been registering and storing weapons of the former combatants, and have been supported by an Interim Task Force - composed of Nepali ex-servicemen from the Indian and British armies - pending full deployment of the UN mission.
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