Nepal govt, Maoists fail to agree on weapons handover

NEPAL: A senior United Nations official Thursday urged Nepal's new government and rebel Maoists to work to build trust after the two sides failed to reach agreement on disarmament.

"What I detected is there is a lack of trust in some cases and there is a lack of knowledge about some of the techniques of confidence-building. In both cases the UN can help," Staffan de Mistura, head of a UN mission, told reporters before ending his seven-day visit.

"I would have liked to have those confidence-building measures taking place immediately but even if they are announced in the next two or three days... it's fine," he said.

He added: "I am not disappointed. Of course you always expect the momentum to go faster than what sometimes happens but I am quite optimistic."

Earlier Thursday a minister said the government and the rebels hoped to present a "common view" to the United Nations team.

"We tried our best to reach a deal with the rebels to settle the arms issue but unfortunately it did not materialize today," said Labour Minister Ramesh Lekhak, a member of the government negotiating team, later in the day. "The meeting will continue Friday and we are very much hopeful that a common understanding will be reached soon," Lekhak said.

Arms management has been a key issue since the government agreed to a Maoist demand for elections to a constituent assembly that will rewrite the constitution and decide the monarchy's future.

The UN team, including experts on policing, human rights and staging elections, arrived last week to see how it could help the peace process.

"The visit of the UN assessment mission was concluded with a sense of cautious optimism about the possibilities for future and continuous engagement of the UN in various important aspects related to the peace process in Nepal," Mistura said.

He said the UN could provide weapons management, electoral assistance, help in monitoring a code of conduct and the expansion of human rights activities.

The government was set up after popular protests spearheaded by political parties and the rebels forced King Gyanendra to give up absolute power in April.

It has urged the rebels to surrender arms under UN supervision ahead of the elections due to be held by April 2007.

The rebels, who say they are ready to join mainstream politics after waging a deadly decade-long struggle for a communist republic, have refused to disarm.

But they say they are ready to place their weapons in sites under UN supervision providing there are similar controls on the army.

Mistura said his mission would submit its finding to the Secretary-General in New York by the middle of next week.

Kathmandu, Friday, AFP