Western envoys see cracks in Nepal's peace process

KATMANDU, Nepal - Western diplomats expressed concern over cracks in the peace process that ended Nepal's bloody 10-year communist insurgency, the British Embassy said in a statement.

Officials from the embassies of Britain, France and the United States met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday, the statement said.

The diplomats said in the letter that there "negative developments" in the process, including new recruitment campaigns by both the government army and the former rebel Maoists that the envoys said were "clear breaches of the spirit of the peace agreements."

The former communist rebels are protesting the recruitment of 2,800 new soldiers into the national army last year, saying it is against the peace process that prohibits the adding of personnel by either the government army or the ex-rebels.

The army has said it was not recruiting new soldiers but filling vacant posts.

However, last week the Maoists threatened to begin recruiting new combatants also.
As part of the peace process that began in April 2006, the former rebels gave up their armed revolt, confined thousands of their combatants in United Nations-monitored camps and locked up their weapons.

The Maoists contested the election last year and emerged as the largest party. They now lead the new coalition government and their leader Dahal — also known by his nom de guerre, Prachanda — is the prime minister.

About 20,000 former rebel combatants are still living in the U.N.-monitored camps, and their future is yet to be decided. The main political parties have so far failed to agree on what to do with them.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.