Leader of the visiting United Nations Mission, Staffan de Mistura, has welcomed the extension of ceasefire by another three months by the CPN (Maoist) and expressed hope that it will be conductive to making the process of peace a better one.

Team leader of UN mission to Nepal, Staffan de Mistura, talking to journalists after meeting with the government’s peace talks team at the Home Ministry Friday afternoon. Mistura met the Maoist leaders earlier in the day, July 28 06. nepalnews.com/rh

Team leader of UN mission to Nepal, Staffan de Mistura, talking to journalists…
Talking to reporters on Friday, Mistura said he heard about the development when the Mission was having a meeting with the Maoists. “We hope it will be extended for even a much longer time than that for the process of peace,” he said.

When asked about the issue of `decommissioning of arms,’ Mistura said the word `decommissioning’ that we have been hearing some times is in fact being understood by everyone as a separation of weapons. He said in the process of discussion of the question about management of arms and armies there is an important understanding that we are getting in terms of interpreting a word, which has been used in the past and needs now to be further elaborated. “We continue with our discussions and our learning process. As you know, we are not going to make any conclusive comments until the report is submitted,” he added.

In response to a question about what seems to be the priority issue for the Government and the CPN (Maoist), Mistura said, “The priority of everyone I am detecting so far is that the peace process should continue, and should continue in a constructive way and, perhaps, with substantive assistance from the UN if the report will produce the results we hope and if the Secretary-General, based on conversations with governments, will come to that conclusion.”

The visiting mission held discussions with Home Minister and chief government negotiator, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, and other members of the team on Friday. Mr. de Mistura did not speak to the press following his meetings today with the Secretary of Defense Bishnu Dutta Upreti and the Chief of Army Staff General Pyar Jung Thapa, said a briefing issued by the UN Information Center in Kathmandu on Friday.

The mission will continue its work over the weekend, beginning with a number of meetings on Saturday with the UN Country Team based in Nepal, the statement added.