EFFORTS CONTINUE TO EXPAND TWO-MEMBER GOVT.

MORE DETAILS OF ATTEMPTS TO COMPLETE GOVT. EXPANSION

Kathmandu, 31 Aug. UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, a former prime minister assured Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Wednesday UML will extend outside support to the Bhattarai government
Khanal gave the assurance at a meeting between Wednesday morning.
Prachanda discussed completion of cabinet expansion by Thursday with Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar, who is chairman of MJFL.
MJFL is one of five constituents of Madeshbadi parties.
Morcha front leaders discussed front government team with Mahanta Thakur Wednesday.
The talks were inconclusive.
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DESPITE GOVT CHANGE MAOISTS STILL ON US BLACKLIST
Kathmandu, 31Aug : The United States said that Nepal´s Maoists needed to do more to be removed from a terrorism blacklist, even though it hopes to work with a new prime minister from the left-wing movement, AFP reports out of Washington.
Baburam Bhattarai, a senior leader of the former rebels whose insurgency helped topple the monarchy, was selected Sunday as prime minister in a new bid to end a prolonged political deadlock in the Himalayan nation.
The United States has pledged to work with Bhattarai but, in response to a question, said that the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist would remain on a list of terrorist organizations whose members are barred from US travel.
"While the party has taken some positive steps, we continue to have areas of concern which must be addressed before the party could be de-listed," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
The Maoists have long sought the removal of the designation. Nuland dismissed suggestions that the listing would complicate US ties, saying: "We are hopeful that we will be able to have a good working relationship."
"There are a number of governments around the world where individual folks, individual parties in a coalition, have been designated, and we continue to work as best we can there," she said.
She did not specify criteria, but US diplomats in the past have urged the Maoists to renounce definitively the use of violence as a political instrument.
Maoist rebels waged a bloody conflict that left 16,000 dead before turning to mainstream politics and winning elections in 2008. The Maoists were blamed for a 2004 attack on the American Center in Kathmandu.
The Maoists are on the US Terrorism Exclusion List but not the tougher Foreign Terrorist Organization List, which would make it a crime to provide financial support to the group.
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