E-Paper
Maoists put on US 'terrorist exclusion list'
US State Dept. has added Nepal's outlawed Maoists to its "Terrorist Exclusion List" to restrict the rebels' entry in US.
The US State Department has added Nepal's outlawed Maoists to its "Terrorist Exclusion List" to restrict the rebels' entry and movement in that country.
Along with nine organisations the US administration branded as "terrorists", topped by the Babbar Khalsa International and followed by a clutch of Islamic outfits, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was put on the list to "facilitate US fulfilment of its United Nations obligation under UN Security Council Resolution 1373 to prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by effective border controls".
The Maoists condemned the declaration made Thursday.
Their second-in-command, Baburam Bhattarai, said in a statement posted on the rebels' website that "an international power centre cannot intervene like this without the support of an anti-national and anti-people group in power".
Bhattarai said the US action increased "the chances of turning (Nepal) into a battlefield by turning India and China against each other". He did not give details.
The US administration had earlier moved to freeze the assets of individuals and organisations in the US associated with the Maoists.
Meanwhile, the new US ambassador to Nepal, James Francis Moriarty, has pledged his country's support to the Nepalese government in battling the Maoist insurgency.
"I promise to work in close coordination with our international partners to assist the government of Nepal in countering the Maoist threat," Moriarty testified at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The developments came at a time when a tacit truce between the Maoists and the Nepalese Army, partly brokered by the International Red Cross, has resulted in the rebels releasing at least 40 policemen who were taken hostage April 7 during a guerrilla attack on a police post.
The rebels attacked the police post in Pashupatinagar in Ilam district in southeast Nepal, killing two policemen and taking 41 hostages. They freed an injured officer while the others were kept captive in northeastern districts for nearly three weeks.
The Red Cross, which had earlier successfully mediated in the release of security personnel held by the rebels, was successful in negotiating a truce that has resulted in the army halting operations in five districts.
