"They have been on our terrorist exclusion list," the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs told a press conference in Kathmandu at the end of his two-day visit to Nepal. He said the US doesn´t yet have a "normal relationship" with the Maoist party because the Maoists continue to be in the US terrorist list.
The 58-year-old career diplomat said though the US has already started a review process to take them off the list, "...I don´t have a timetable yet". He said the Maoists should "abandon past practices of terrorism and violence" to meet US qualifications for a political party.
"When we think they have done the necessary things to… reject terrorism in word and deed… then we will be able to take them off the list and have a normal relationship with them as a party," said Boucher, adding that dealings with the Maoists as a party and with the government led by them are two different things.
Boucher said US officials in Washington DC are closely watching the Maoists´ activities: their actions, their statements, and gathering other data. "And, we will make the decision when we feel like it´s time to pull them off (the terrorist list)," he said.
"We are dealing with them in the government as a responsible government authority. We are trying to make sure that we work with this government, we continue our meetings, we continue our discussions, we continue our assistance programs," he said, adding that the US doesn´t want to interrupt healthcare for the people of Nepal because they have Maoists in the government.
He said indirectly that since the Maoist army has fought for the Maoists, they should be given other options (agriculture, jobs overseas, other security-related jobs protecting forests and borders, among others) than integration in the Nepal Army. "And, some of them may want to join the army," he said. "That´s a process that is being worked out." Boucher said it´s time to move forward on the constitution, on demobilization or integration of "the people in the Maoist army".
He said the US, along with other international donors like the United Nations, is there to support the process of management of the former Maoist combatants. "Details need to be worked out. But, I do think that there will be international support."
He said the US wants to see bold and swift action on a number of issues such as writing of the new constitution and "demobilization or integration of the people in the Maoist army".
Though Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai had sought increased US assistance for rehabilitating disqualified Maoist combatants in society, Boucher said the US won´t provide any direct assistance to that end. "First we would like to support the UN efforts to do that," he said.
During his visit, Boucher met the President, the Prime Minister, the Ministers for Finance, Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Chief of Army Staff and political party leaders.
He said the US will continue to provide its regular annual assistance ($70 million) to Nepal in areas like health, education, agriculture and developing economic opportunities. The new administration in Washington looks at Nepal as a place that is still important to the US, he added.
Climate change: new area of US engagement with Nepal
Boucher said the new Obama Administration in the US has a new emphasis on global warming and climate change in Nepal, which has a number of glacial lakes and is involved with other related issues. "I think that is going to bring the new administration into Nepal in a new way; perhaps we can continue to develop our relationship in some other areas," he told the press conference.
tilak@myrepublica.com
Related story
Afghanistan tops list of countries most affected by terrorism
-1200x560-1776240217.webp)
