Koirala warns of foreign interference

Lalitpur, Nov 3 - Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala on Sunday said that there is a chance of unwanted foreign intervention in the country.He said that the interference of neighboring and other countries usually increases at a time when the foundation of nationality has been weakened due to ...

He was speaking at a function organised in Lalitpur on Sunday to release 'A Role in a Revolution' a memoir of late Matrika Prasad Koirala, his brother and a former prime minister.

Koirala said that he requested visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday to direct the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) to withdraw all weapons it had earlier allowed top Maoist leaders to keep for their personal security.

The former prime minister said he asked Ban to ensure that Maoists either hand over the weapons that bear UN stickers to the government or keep them in cantonment containers as the Maoists themselves are heading the government now. "Why the weapons and personal body guards for Maoists? Now that all security forces are under them.

Koirala alleged that Maoist leaders still attend public meetings with their weapons, even though they head the government. "The UN has to look after that too," he added.

According to the Agreement on Monitoring of Management of Arms and Armies reached between the then government and Maoists on November 28, 2006, the UNMIN has allowed Maoists to keep altogether 72 arms outside containers for personal security of their top leaders. The UNMIN maintains that it is the government, not the UNMIN, which is authorised to decide whether to allow Maoists to continue keeping their personal weapons.

Koirala said that he urged Ban to take into consideration "Nepal's political context, political situation and political nuances" which had seen huge changes after the Constituent Assembly (CA) election. "I said to him that people are closely observing what the UN is doing. People's faith in the UN will diminish if it makes any mistakes," he said. "The UN should keep its eyes and ears open to these conditions. What kind of impression will people have when arms that bear UN tags are taken inside the parliament?

Koirala said he also shared with Ban, Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's remarks against parliamentary democratic system. Prime Minister Dahal had earlier said that CPN-Maoist could not remain confined to the traditional parliamentary system, and that his party's ultimate goal was to achieve socialism.