By IANS
Kathmandu : The UN will start verifying Maoist troops from Thursday after a deadlock between the guerrillas and the Nepal government ended Monday with the ruling alliance increasing funds for the corralled rebel soldiers.
The verification process, a key step in identifying bona fide guerrilla soldiers and ensuring their eventual rehabilitation or inclusion in the state army, was held up for three months due to the Maoists locking horns with the government over more funds for the confined soldiers.
After the ruling alliance signed a peace pact with the Maoists last year, formally ending a decade of violent armed uprising, the underground People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the rebels was barracked in 28 camps under UN supervision to ensure that they would not intimidate people and allow a crucial election to be held in a free and fair manner.
Currently, a little over 31,000 PLA combatants, including women, are confined in the camps.
However, there is a possibility that the troops could include minors as well as people recruited after May 2006, in violation of a tripartite arms accord signed between the rebels, government and UN.
Using its own intelligence network, the UN Mission in Nepal will start screening the combatants from Thursday to see how many are genuine soldiers.
The standoff was resolved after an emergency cabinet meeting agreed to pay a monthly salary of Nepali Rs.3,000 to each combatant.
The Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee, comprising officials from the UN, PLA and Nepal Army, that is overseeing the management of the arms and armies held a meeting Monday when it was decided to resume the stalled process.
The Maoist cantonment in Ilam district in eastern Nepal will be the first camp where verification of guerrillas will start.
Gen Jan Erik Wilhelmsen, the UN official heading the committee, said he expected that about 500 soldiers would be verified a day.
Minors under 18 and late recruits would be discharged from the camps with the Unicef being given the task of rehabilitating child soldiers.
Though the first phase of UN inspection ended in early March with the registering of the combatants and their arms, the verification process ran into trouble after the guerrillas stopped the UN teams, saying they would allow the work only after the government improved the living condition in the camps and paid salary to the soldiers.
Hundreds of guerrillas have been falling ill due to lack of sanitation, medical supplies and food in the camps. Monsoon storms added to the soldiers' woes, blowing away camp roofs and snakes infesting the forested areas.