Nepal´s statement on the minors residing in cantonments as the disqualified Maoist army came during his meeting with the visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, according to Rajan Bhattarai, the prime minister´s foreign affairs advisor, who was also present during the meeting.
"The government gives top priority to discharge the minors in the cantonments and their rehabilitation by taking the Maoists in confidence after the government takes full shape," Bhattarai quoted the prime minister as saying to Blake who arrived Nepal on Friday afternoon.
Despite repeated promises to the international community to discharge what the UN has said the army disqualifies as minors, the government has not been able to live up to its word.
In December 2008, then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also agreed to discharge the child combatants during his meeting with Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. But nothing has been done in this regard since then.
Responding to Blake´s questioning on the future of the peace process, the prime minister said the government would give full shape to the Army Integration Special Committee (AISC) and technical committee after completion of the much-awaited cabinet expansion. "Then the peace process will be taking its course," Bhattarai quoted the prime minister as saying.
The committees have remained almost defunct since the Maoist-led government stepped down on May 4. Currently, the AISC is without its head as the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahad was also chairman of the committee.
During the meeting the prime minister also reiterated that the United Nations Mission in Nepal would stay in Nepal until the peace process reaches logical conclusion. He also assured Blake efforts would be made to speed up the works of the Constituent Assembly to complete drafting of the constitution within the stipulated timeframe.
The visiting US official is due to meet President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala, and opposition leader and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He will also meet with political leaders, government officials and UN representatives during his two-day stay in Nepal. He is returning on Saturday.
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