Nepal will not listen to India: says FM Bhattarai

Nepal will not listen to India: says FM Bhattarai

Indian ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood with his return to Kathmandu from a short stint in New Delhi on Saturday, met with the Maoist Prime Minister of Nepal on Sunday, April 26, 2009.
Sood received “special instructions” from his masters in New Delhi on how to cope with the ongoing political crises that have gripped Nepal as regards the sacking of the Nepal Army Chief, Katwal.
Ambassador Sood, who left for New Delhi April 23, 2009, only after meeting Nepal’s Prime Minister thrice in 24 hours, with his return to Kathmandu, in his meeting with the Nepal PM today urged him to take political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly into confidence prior to sacking the incumbent Chief of the Army Staff Mr. Rukmangad Katawal.
However, say reports Prime Minster Pushpa Kamal Dahal remained undeterred and told the Indian envoy that the government had already made up its mind to sack Katawal.
Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, the Finance Minister and Senior Maoist leader who was present in the meeting later told the reporters that “Ambassador Sood during the meeting presented his views, we also forwarded our points, and finally, it is us who will take the final decision.”
“He (Sood) said what he had to, we will do what we have to immaterial of what others say”, Bhattarai said adding, “We will sack Katawal, we will not listen to any one as such”.
This is the first time that a Nepal Minister has told straight that Nepali affairs will be handled with care by the Nepalese themselves.
Similarly, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Mr. Janardan Sharma Prabhakar talking to reporters made clear that CoAS Katawal need to be sacked to restore peoples’ supremacy in the country.
“The Prime Minister is undeterred, the government will sack Katawal”, concluded Mr. Sharma.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Dahal told point blank President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav that “I will sack Katwal come what may”.
Dr. Yadav is reported to have told the PM to take into confidence all the major political parties prior to taking such a decision.
With this, dark clouds have begun hovering in Nepali skies. No body knows as to what would happen the next minute. In the mean while, the spokesperson of the Nepal Army has refuted the rumor that the Army was all set to stage a coup d’etat.
But yet, the Kathmandu population remains in a state of panic.
2009-04-26 20:02:02

http://www.telegraphnepal.com/news_det.php?news_id=5297