Delayed Belgian arms shipment arrives

January 8, 2003
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The delayed shipment of 500 Minimis automatic rifles manufactured by Belgium’s Fabrique Nationale Herstal arrived in the capital Tuesday night nearly a fortnight after the Indian government denied a chartered airliner permission to overfly India and land in land-locked Nepal, official Nepali sources said.

New Delhi said the airliner never sought such permission which was finally given. The shipment is part of a consignment of 5,500 automatic rifles to replace aging SLR’s ordered by the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba last year before he was sacked by King Gyanendra on October 4 for failure to hold the promised November 13 national elections.

The Belgian government resisted pressures of a Green Party and human rights groups to send the purchased arms shipment to Nepal to modernize the Royal Nepal Army.

The arms consignment comes after the delivery by USA of 3000 MI-16 A 2 rifles to Nepal last week.