Peace process stalled in Nepal over rebel arms

[BrantParticipant]

A day after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said that King Gyanendra should be given a role in Nepal’s future, Maoist second-in-command Babu Ram Bhattarai said that the peace process is stalled and on the verge of collapse.

“The peace process is stuck at a sensitive point,” Mr. Bhattarai, chief of the rebel’s government wing, told businessmen in Kathmandu Monday. He added that if the government continues to protect the monarchy and focus on “decommissioning,” his party would be forced to walk away from peace talks.

“We are not ready to lay down arms unless a democratic army is formed. The effort to make us lay down arms unilaterally will only derail the peace process,” he said. “We have not lost, and we are not tired, either.”

[URL="http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0808/p12s02-wosc.html"]Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links[/URL]

[BrantParticipant]

This article seemed to really talk about what Dan was saying in the Taiwan article.

People (and governments) seem reluctant to want to make a move that could result in failure, so they plow forward with plans that basically embody failure (“hey, I’m pretty sure we can’t live peacefully, so let’s just make sure that we don’t”).

Maybe people don’t want to trust because trusting is seen as weakness? I often find that the goodness of another person shines the MOST when you trust them to be good. I don’t know where the quote about casting pearls before swine comes in here, but the Nepal story was coming along so well – these two parties trusting each other for the first time in years and I don’t want to see that trust fall away.

[d.roundsParticipant]

This article seemed to really talk about what Dan was saying in the Taiwan article.

Maybe people don’t want to trust because trusting is seen as weakness?

I think that’s exactly it; that and[/i] the fact that if a politician trusts human goodness, and things don’t work out, they’ve just made a [i]naive[/i] decision, and put people at risk because of a [i]naive belief that people are good.

I often find that the goodness of another person shines the MOST when you trust them to be good.

Indeed!

[BrantParticipant]

Update from Nepal: Looks like the rebels and parliament just agreed on a letter to the UN and things are moving forward again. Here’s the [URL="http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/09/news/nepal.php"]article[/URL] from the International Herald Tribune.

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