NEPAL IN GROUP B IN SAFF NEW DELHI CHAMPIONSHIP

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NEPAL PLAYS INDIA’S KIC THURSDAY IN SAARC TWENTY20 CRICKET TOURNAMENT

Kathmandu, 3 Nov.: Nepal Thursday plays India’s Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIC) in its second match of the SAARC U-25 Twenty20 Cricket Tournament on Thursday in Maldives.

Nepal lost its opening match against Sri Lanka by 76 runs.
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NEPAL IN GROUP B IN SAFF NEW DELHI GAMES

Kathmandu, 3 Nov.: Nepal is in Group B along with Maldives, Bangladesh and Pakistan in the SAFF Championship in New Delhi 2 to 11 from December 2-11.
Bangladesh and Nepal are South Asia’s two top soccer nations according to latest rankings of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body.
India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bhutan are in Group A.
The tournament draw made in New Delhi Wednesday.
Nepal plays Maldives 2 December in its first outing.
It will meet Bangladesh 4 December 4 and will Pakistan 6 December.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the final.
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DISSENTING UCPN-M FACTION SAYS AGREEMENT NOT HONOURABLE





Kathmandu, 3 Nov.: The dissenting faction of the main ruling UCPN-Maoist has objected to the 7-point deal the major parties inked on Monday, terming the pact as ‘an epitome of historical surrender’ and a betrayal against the people and the country, The Rising Nepal reports.
The dissenting faction led by party senior vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya ‘Kiran’ and general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’ organized a press meet on Tuesday to announce its 9-point objection related to the 7-point pact. Not all the issues agreed in the pact have been objected to.
According to the press statement, the faction objected to the role to be provided to the Maoist army combatants after the army integration. As per the pact, the new security force which will be formed of 35 per cent of the combatants and 65 per cent of the state security forces will look after the security of the forest and industries whereas the faction demanded that the force should be given the role of border security citing party decision.
The faction argued that national security policy should be clarified before initiating the army integration.
Among the issues objected to are the issues related to army integration on the individual basis, structure of the new security force, rehabilitation package, return of the seized land and properties during the war period without any management of the landless people.
"Overall, the pact is against the people and the country. We are for integration of the PLA in a respectable manner. We had been drawing serious attention of our party leaders and the leaders of the other parties to take the issue of the army integration and constitution writing as integral part of the peace process and move forward accordingly. However, they did not take it seriously. Management of conflict and movement can be done by resolving the political and economic problems of the people and not by disarming the PLA," read the statement.
Responding to the queries of the reporters, Baidhya stressed on group integration of the combatants, border security role with combatant status of the new force, making the new force with equal number of the state security forces and the combatants and leadership role of the combatants in the new security wing.
He said that whatever objections they were making were based on the decisions of the party. "Not we but our main leadership is violating the party decisions. We are just upholding them and asking the leadership to act accordingly."
When asked what his ‘group of thought’ or faction would do if the establishment faction went on implementing the pact, Baidhya said they would wait the decision of the party Central Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday.
General secretary Badal came heavily against the pact as he termed the Monday evening when the pact was made as the black night.
"We are facing the feudalists, expansionists and the imperialists and their brokers," the Maoist general secretary said, "Yesterday, the PLA was dismantled. But thousands of the PLA would emerge from the ashes of the dismantling."
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DETAILS OF AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATION BY AISC





Kathmandu, 3 Nov.: The Army Integration Special Committee (AISC) met at its secretariat at New Baneswar on Wednesday and took three decisions based on Tuesday’s agreement on integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, The Rising Nepal reports.
The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai.
Committee member Dr. Minendra Rijal said that the meeting welcomed Tuesday’s agreement signed by major parties on combatant integration and rehabilitation package to be given to them.
Committee spokesperson and the government chief secretary Madav Ghimire said that the meeting directed its secretariat to prepare it working schedule within two days.
The work plan will be submitted at the committee meeting schedule on Friday.
The seven-point agreement mentions that the Maoist combatant regrouping would complete by November 23.
According to Dr. Rijal, updating the data of combatants would start after the work plan is prepared.
Another committee member Bhim Rawal stressed the implementation of the seven-point pact. He lauded the agreement "historic".
He claimed that seven-point agreement would bring the peace process to a logical conclusion.
Rijal said that the

committee would try to implement its works within given dateline.
But some of works related to the seven point agreement are to be done by are outside the area of the committee. They should be carried out by the Maoist party, government and the Constituent Assembly.
Sitaula flays Baidhya faction
Meanwhile Nepali Congress (NC) general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula Wednesday downplayed the protest of seven-point agreement by Mohan Baidhya faction of UCPN-Maoist.
"The Maoist hardliner faction won’t hamper the implementation of the agreement signed among the four sides on Tuesday," Sitaula said at an interaction organized by Reporters’ Cub here.
Sitaula’s statement came as Baidhya faction blasted the deal as ‘anti-nationalistic’ and ‘the Maoist surrender’, and decided to launch protests against it.
"I see no rationale to object to the agreement as it is only another promise to conclude the peace and constitution writing processes as per the spirit of the past agreements including the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Interim Constitution. It does not contain any newer thing," he said.
He noted that all should commit to implementing the hard-won deal.
On the extension of Constituent Assembly’s (CA) term and the formation of national consensus government, Sitaula said that they would depend on how the deal was implemented.
"If the peace process moves as per the seven-point deal, the CA’s term will be extended," he added.
He said that there was no any agreement on the extension of CA’s term and formation of national consensus government. "These two issues will be discussed only when the peace process gathers a steam. At the moment, it is the peace process, not the government, central issue."
The NC general secretary said that yesterday’s agreement became possible as the leaders rose above their partisan line.
"NC president Sushil Koirala, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and CPN-UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal showed their guts to get the deal struck. Moreover, Prachanda dared to do so by defying the protest from his vice-chairman Baidhya," he said.
He said that all should put pressure for the implementation of the agreement.
Sitaula also urged all not to doubt the implementation of the agreement.
Stating that the peace process was stalled in the past as the Maoists took the line of revolt, he said that the current agreement was due to the shifting position of the Maoist establishment from revolt to peace.
Sitaula also reiterated the commitment of his party to implement the deal since the failure of the peace process was tantamount to uncertainty of the loktantra in Nepal.
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INTERVIEW

CONSENSUS GOVT. WITH FAST IMPLEMENTATION OF AGREEMENT SAYS NC GENERAL SECRETARY SITAULA

General Secretary of Nepali Congress (NC) Krishna Sitaula is one of the key negotiators of the historic seven-point agreement signed on Tuesday. He is one of the few leaders who have played crucial roles behind each and every agreement on the ongoing peace process. Republica´s Kiran Chapagain caught up with Sitaula on Tuesday at his residence on Wednesday to get his views on the provisions of the seven-point deal. Excerpts:

The agreement says that up to 6,500 combatants will be integrated. Why did parties not specify the exact number of combatants for integration?

Girija Prasad Koirala and Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) had agreed to integrative tentatively 5,000 combatants before the combatants were cantoned. Later, the Maoist leaders said that the number should be 12,000. Then, they lowered it to 10,000. A later later, they asked for 8,000 combatants to be integrated. Finally, they put the figure at 7,000.

Would it make any difference if the number has been exactly 6,500?

What happens if 6,500 combatants could not qualify for integration? What happens if we fix the number as 6,500 and only 5,000 combatants qualify for integration? So, it was not practical to be specific on the number.

The agreement has set November 23 as the deadline to complete the categorization. But it is silent on the timeframe to complete the whole peace process. Why?

If we complete the categorization within a month, all will depend on the process of the Nepal Army. The matter of timeframe falls in the jurisdiction of the Special Committee.

Why has the rehabilitation package offered two schemes -- one in cash and another in kind?

It is because some may opt for education and training while others may prefer a cash package.

Why has the agreement proposed to give cash package in two tranches?

The state could not give cash in one tranche. We had proposed that the cash should be given in three tranches. We understood the sensitivity of the Maoists on this issue and agreed on two trenches. Our leader Sushil Koirala took a bold decision in this regard.

Tentatively, how much money is required for rehabilitation package?

We have estimated that each combatant will get Rs 515,000 on average. The total figure will be above five billion rupees.

How the rank of the combatants will be determined in the integration process?

It is a technical issue. I suppose that the combatants may get the rank on the basis of their number of years in the Maoist army. I suppose the maximum service year of combatant will be no more than 15 years. You can imagine the highest rank that the combatants will reach. The integration is going to be dignified as the date of the combatants joining the army will also be recognized as service years in the Nepal Army.

How will the landowners whose lands have been seized during the conflict be compensated?

The owners will be given compensation equal to the produce of their land of the seizure period. We agreed to give the compensation because returning land without compensation will be injustice to the owners. And, it is not a big issue if we compare the amount required for compensation to these people and for rehabilitation of ex-combatants. The amount may be less than one billion rupees. Nepali Congress and CPN-UML proposed the compensation to victim landowners and Maoist leaders agreed to our proposal. Madhesi leaders also supported. Experts will determine such compensation.

What will happen to the Maoist arms after they come under the control of the government once the integration process begins?

I do not want to create ripples by revealing what will be done to the arms in future. The government will take a decision at that time.

The agreement says that all the conflict-affected will be compensated without any discrimination. What does it mean?

All those killed, injured or affected during the conflict will be compensated without any discrimination. Even the security personnel who were already compensated by the government before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement will be compensated at par with the Maoists who have been victim of the conflict as per the agreement.

What high-level political mechanism in the seven-point deal means?

It means a mechanism of top leaders of major parties. Its mandate and formation is yet to be discussed.

What do you mean by formation of a government of political understanding as agreed in deal?

It is the government of all major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly.

Who will lead such a government?

We are yet to discuss leadership of such a government and sharing of ministries among parties. We have not begun discussions in this regard. But we will focus on the implementation of those provisions that have been agreed to be translated into action by November 23.

Now with the signing of the deal, can NC and UML join the government and make this government a consensus one?

We have not discussed in that direction. There are three phases before us -- completion of the peace process, promulgation of the constitution, and holding a general election.

But your party has long been maintaining that it can join the Maoist-led government if a package deal on the peace process is signed. Isn´t it the time for NC to join the government now that Maoists have agreed on all contentious issues of the peace process?

Yes, you are right. Our concern was defining the integration. The integration has now been defined in a proper way. We will now discuss joining the government. But NC will be more focused on implementation of the agreement. The faster the agreement is implemented the quicker a government of consensus will be in place. But we are not in a hurry to join the government.

As the parties have agreed to initiate drafting of the constitution after a month, the extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA) term seems unavoidable. How long the CA will be extended after the current term expires on November 30?

CA term will be extended once. If the most important task of the peace process is completed by November 23, it will lead people to trust the parties that they will deliver a constitution. In that context, people will support the extension of the term.

How long will be the next term of the CA?

It will be short. We are yet to discuss the length of the next term. In my opinion, the term should be extended by three more months. But the issue has not yet been discussed in the party.

When will the expert group on state restructuring be formed?

Within four to five days -- by Sunday.

How this agreement is different from previous ones on advancing the peace process?

In fact, this is not a new agreement. It is a commitment to implement the past agreements including the 12-point understanding, Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Agreement on Management of Arms and Armies (AMMA), among others.

This agreement has defined the AMMA in a proper way. The Maoists had not agreed to define AMMA in the past.
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