SAUDI DELEGATION COMING END OF LNOV.; INVESTING 5 BILLION RUPEES

NC PRESIDENT, PRACHANDA MEET
Kathmandu, 4 Oct.: A meeting was held between Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala and UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' at the former’s residence at Maharajgunj today [Monday], RSS reports.

During the meeting, matters relating to the peace process, army integration and other contemporary political issues were discussed, according to NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel.

Talking to reporters following the meeting, Poudel said the NC was of the opinion that the army integration should be based on the peace agreement.

He said the modality of the army integration should be discussed at the special committee and with members of the committee.

Discussion was also held to gain more clarity about the modality of the army integration, he added.
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SAUDI DELEGATION COMING

Kathmandu, 4 Oct. A Saudi delegation with one representative each from the foreign, finance and development construction ministries is coming in the first week of Mangshir [end of November] as a follow-up of a recent visit of a Saudi prince, Nagarik reports.
Saudi Arabia is investing five billion rupees in the education, health and irrigation sectors.
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MAOIST RIFT SHUTS RADIO MIRMIRE
Kathmandu, 4 Oct.: Radio Mirmire (89.4 Mhz) has become a victim of bad blood between UCPN-Maoist factions, The Himalayan Times reports.

The Anamnagar-based FM station, a Maoist mouthpiece, stopped its broadcast this morning due to a bitter dispute between the station management and journalists aligned to the Maoist party’s establishment faction that has Maoist Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Baidhya as its leader and the hardliner faction that has party Vice-Chairperson Mohan Baidhya at the helm.

A group of mediapersons with Shredhar Neupane, chairman of the Federation of Nepalis Journalists Radio Mirmire chapter, as the leader, had padlocked the FM station, which goes on air between 10 am and 5 pm, last night, accusing the management of not addressing their demands.

“We have not received salaries for months,” the group said in a press statement, though Station Manager Ghanashyam Shrestha, who represents the Baidhya faction, refuted this claim. “All staff have receivecd payment. In addition, each staffer has received Rs 1,500 Dashain bonus,” Shrestha maintained.

The FM station was unlocked in the presence of FNJ Chairperson and police personnel this afternoon. In a press statement, Station Manager Shrestha said they are in no position to run the station immediately as a transmitter, three computers, two hybrids (telephone system for live programmes), eight hard disks and internet modems are missing.

Shrestha accused former chairman of the radio station, Bishnu Sapkota alias Jugal, of stealing the properties, though Inspector Sudhir Shahi of the Singha Durbar Police Station said they have not received any report to this effect. Repeated attempts to contact Neupane and Shretha for comments failed.

While FNJ central member Damodar Timilsina commented that the tussle between the supporters of Dahal and Baidhya is to blame for the station’s shutdown. It is said that rift in the FM station has further deepened after the station manager refused to broadcast live the public speech of Maoist Chairman Dahal from Nepal Academy last month.
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PM BHATTARAI SURPRISED

Kathmandu, 4 Oct.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today [Monday] expressed surprise over media reports that the Cabinet yesterday [Sunday] decided that the government had recommended to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav that Maoist lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel be granted amnesty, The Himalayan Times reports.
“I am surprised at the news,” Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang quoted PM Bhattarai as saying. “I had held the issue for further discussion with various quarters but the media published a completely false news,” Bhattarai told Nembang.

The PM told the Speaker about the news during Phulpati celebration at Army Pavilion in Tundikhel.

During the meeting, Nembang also drew the PM’s attention to the recent remarks of Defence Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari. He also discussed Minister of Land Reforms and Management Prabhu Sah, against whom police recently issued warrant notices.

In his queries, PM Bhattarai said the government was serious about transitional justice and would form the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Disappeared soon.
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