By IANS
Kathmandu : UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has hailed the start of the operation to weed out child soldiers and illegal recruits from the Maoist guerrilla army, calling it crucial and asking all stakeholders to cooperate.
Nepal's slow-moving peace process received a boost Tuesday when UN officials finally started verifying Maoist soldiers from a cantonment in east Nepal, resuming an operation that had been stalled since mid-March.
Over 100 UN staff flew to Chulachuli village in Ilam district, to scrutinise how many of the nearly 3,000 guerrillas living in the base since the signing of an arms pact last year were bona fide combatants.
As per the arms agreement between the Maoists and the then seven-party government, rebel soldiers below the age of 18 would be discharged immediately. They would be placed under Unicef protection officers to facilitate their reintegration with their families.
Combatants found to have been recruited after the arms pact would also be discharged.
Of the nearly 31,000 guerrillas of the People's Liberation Army, reports say 9,000 or more could be minors.
Hailing the beginning of the process, the UN secretary general's office issued a statement late Tuesday.
"This is a crucial stage of the implementation of the agreement on monitoring of the management of arms and armies," the statement said.
"The secretary-general reiterates to all parties the need to cooperate in the creation of a conducive environment to holding the constituent assembly election later this year."
Though the soldiers and their arms were registered by March, the verification process ran into trouble.
First, the Maoists refused to allow the verification till the government paid them allowances and improved the living conditions in the seven main cantonments where they have been living since last December.
Then, when the government complied and the verification was to have started last week, they called a halt to protest the killing of at least three of their men by various groups last week.
The Maoist combatants are required to stay in the camps with their arms locked up to ensure that the November election, when Nepal will decide whether to abolish its 238-year monarchy and become a republic, is held in a free and fair manner.
The Nepal Army has also confined its troops to barracks to ensure there is no intimidation.
The Maoist soldiers' verification began in the presence of UN official Gen Jan Erik Wilhelmsen and Maoist "general" Nand Kishor Pun, also known as Pasang.
Media reports said the soldiers are being asked their age, the date they joined the guerrillas and details of the battles they fought.
The UN team will crosscheck the information with the data compiled by the Unicef and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal.
The bona fide warriors left after the screening are likely to be fused with the Nepal army if they meet the requirements, or be rehabilitated by the state.
After Ilam, the verification team will move westward to the cantonment in Sindhuli and continue with the remaining five cantonments.
The spokesperson at the UN Mission in Nepal said it could not be immediately estimated how long it would take to verify the entire Maoist army. However, a clearer timeline would emerge after the experience of the first week of the process on the ground.