On the day the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) lowered the U.N. flag to signify the closure of the mission, the Nepal government and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) finally inked a deal on alternative mechanisms to take over UNMIN's responsibilities.
As a part of a three-point agreement, the two sides decided to form a special mechanism, consisting of three members of the all-party Special Committee for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of Maoist combatants and three members from the committee's secretariat, to monitor the arms and armies of both the government and the Maoists, meaning the Nepal Army and the People's Liberation Army respectively. The Special Committee itself would now play the lead role in management of arms and armies, and dispute resolution. Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to abide by all past agreements related to the peace process. They thanked UNMIN for its work, and consensually requested the mission to handover the equipment being used for monitoring of arms and armies to the government.
The agreement came as UNMIN organised a special function to mark its closure, where a message from U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon was read out. In his statement, Mr. Ban said: “The mission provided support to the historic elections for a Constituent Assembly in 2008, which was one of its key tasks, along with monitoring the implementation of the arms monitoring agreement and the ceasefire code of conduct.” He also appreciated the parties for having “shown a high degree of respect for the monitoring regime”. In her final remarks, UNMIN chief Karin Landgren pointed to the “unfinished peace process”, and the “outstanding issues in relation to arms and armies”.
