Government, Maoists sign arms management accord

After five days of hectic deliberations, the government and the Maoists signed a deal on management of arms and armies Tuesday evening.
Coordinator of the government’s talks team Home Minister Krishna Prasad Situala and Maoist chief negotiator Krishna Prasad Mahara signed the ‘Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies’ amidst a news conference in Kathmandu.
A meeting of the representatives of the government, the CPN (Maoist) and United Nations finalised the modalities of management of arms and armies and the monitoring process.
They also settled contentious issues including the number of the arms to be kept by the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for the security of its camps around the country and the issue whether military drillings should be allowed inside cantonments.
As per the agreement, the Maoists would be allowed to keep 30 arms for the security of each of the seven main camps and 15 arms for 21 satellite camps. The agreement has also ended the controversy over the categorization of the Maoist military, deciding to name the PLA structure simply as main camp and satellite camp.
The two sides have also agreed to form a nine-member Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC) comprising three members from the Maoists, the government and the UN each, which will oversee the monitoring process.
The 12-page agreement paper says the PLA men would be allowed to conduct light military drillings inside the camps, without using of heavy fireworks, while the Nepal Army would be allowed to conduct its regular military exercises.
According to the agreement, up to 12 percent Maoist combatants would be allowed to take leave at a time. Regarding the verification of the combatants, those recruited prior to the signing of the ceasefire code of conduct (May 26), and those who reached 18 years of age by then, would be kept in the camps.
Addressing the news conference, Home Minister Situala described the agreement as a crucial development although it took some time to reach consensus. He informed that the draft of the agreement would be sent to the UN secretary general’s personal representative to Nepal, Ian Martin, for approval. He informed that 70 containers are being imported from India for storage of arms of the PLA and the Nepal Army.
The government and the Maoists had on November 21 agreed to lock of the arms of the Nepal Army equivalent to that of the PLA.
Similarly, Mahara, who is also the Maoist spokesperson, expressed confidence that the agreement would pave the way for political settlement. He also said the Maoists were committed to socio-economic transformation of the country.
Government and Maoist negotiators had held two rounds of meetings at Hotel Sangrila, Lazimpat, before finalising the accord.
Talking to reporters after the news conference, minister Pradeep Gyawali said the two sides have reached an agreement regarding the integration of the PLA men in the future National Army “based on accepted international norms”.
Home Minister Situala, government’s talks team members Gyawali and Ramesh Lekhak represented the government side in the marathon meeting that finalised the accord while Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’, talks coordinator Mahara and deputy commanders Pasang, Ananta, Baldev and Prabhakar represented the Maoist side.
Nepali Congress leader Dr Shekhar Koirala, UN’s John Norris and Jan Eric Wilhemson, Brigadier General of Nepal Army Shiva Ram Pradhan and AIG of Nepal Police Amar Singh Shah were also involved in the negotiations