Nepal arms monitoring likely to be delayed - UN

KATHMANDU, Nov 9 (Reuters) The UN will struggle to assemble a full mission to monitor the disarmament of Nepal's Maoist rebels under an ambitious timetable set out in a peace deal agreed this week, the head of the team said today.

Ian Martin's comments came a day after Nepal's interim, multi-party government and the Maoist rebels agreed to a landmark peace pact aimed at ending a decade-old revolt and set a timetable to disarm the guerrillas.

According to the plan, the rebels and the government have to sign a comprehensive peace agreement on or before Nov 16 and Maoist fighters have to be confined to camps and their weapons locked up on or before Nov 21.

Further, the army also has to be confined to barracks and an equal number of its arms surrendered on or before Nov 21, after which an interim parliament including the Maoists would be constituted.

''Clearly, it wouldn't be possible for a full monitoring mission to be in place by the date,'' Ian Martin, personal representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Nepal's peace process, told reporters.

But the UN team would try to respond as promptly as the government and the rebels had shown they were about pushing their peace process to help end a revolt that has killed more than 13,000 people.

The Maoists and the government resumed talks that collapsed in 2003 and agreed to a ceasefire after King Gyanendra bowed to street protests and restored democracy in April.

The two sides invited the UN to monitor the disarming which is expected to help conduct free and fair elections to a new assembly that will decide the future of Nepal's monarchy.

The monitors will register weapons stored by the Maoists in camps, but details would not be made public, Martin said.

''If there are allegations that there were weapons outside the cantonments we will investigate them,'' he said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala urged the rebels to be sincere in implementing the deal and help create enduring peace in the country wrecked by years of conflict.

''It was my political gamble to bring the Maoists to a democratic framework. This is a victory for all Nepali people,'' Koirala said in a speech to parliament.

''I urge all, including our Maoist friends, to be responsible and help implement the deal,'' he said.

REUTERS SSC RN1955