Nepal Army boycotts meeting of JMCC chaired by UNMIN

Kathmandu, 26 Aug.: As expected, three representatives of Nepal Army (NA) didn’t attend a meeting Thursday of the nine-member Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC) chaired by UNMIN—the political arm of the UN in Nepal.
The committee has three representatives of UMNIM and Maoists.
The NA asked the committee to take off discussions of the controversial drive to fill in vacancies from the committee’s agenda for Thursday meeting.
Friction between NA and UNMIN comes at a time when the NA has charged UNMIN is attempting to extend its stay in Nepal even after its extended tenure expires mid-September.
Ministers in government have been publicly charging UNMIN for not being neutral in its dealings between government and Maoists.
Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari has even charged UMNMIN for being a Maoist ‘tail’.
Ruling Nepali Congress, the biggest constituent in the governing coalition, has demanded UNMIN mandate should be reviewed and the political arm of the UN should be striped of its responsibility to monitor the NA if the agency’s tenure is to be extended.
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Probe into the air crash yet to start

Kathmandu, 26 Aug.: An official probe by a five-member government appointed team formed Tuesday to probe the Agni Air Dronier crash that killed 14 passengers and crew is yet to start even three days after the crash.
Three members are yet to arrive in the capital to begin the probe.
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