Old Nepal hand Peter Burleigh to temporarily head US embassy in India

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 7 April: Old Nepal hand has been appointed to lead the US embassy in India until the Obama administration appoints an ambassador, a report from Washington said.
He has been appointed charge de’ affaires.
Burleigh was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Burleigh was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal where he was deputy when Carol Laise was US Ambassador.
The retired career diplomat visited Nepal as a member of the entourage of former President Jimmy Carter to oversee the 10 April 2008 constituent assembly elections.
The appointment comes when USA and India re coordinating their Nepal policies.
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Only 10 identified minefields cleared

Kathmandu, 7 April: Only 10 of 53 identified mine-fields have been cleared in three years since the then government and the rebel CPN-Maoist agreed to defuse all of them as part of a landmark deal they inked in November 2006, The Rising Nepal reports.
Comprehensive peace agreement authorized Nepal Army to defuse all landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) within sixty days of the signing.
“De-mining is not an easy job and it is taking longer than we had expected,” Manoj Gurung, an official of National Mine Action Coordinator (NMAC) at NA said ata function in the capital.
Ironically, landmines and IEDs have killed or injured 197 Nepalese since the accord was signed. Casualties are more rampant in the Terai.
“Out of 300 IEDS, 60 have been cleared, “NMAC said. Four trained landmine teams are engaged in this task.
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