Kathmandu, May 7
Racing against time, Nepal’s major political parties today engaged in hectic consultations to form a new government, with Maoist supremo Prachanda meeting ex-premier GP Koirala, whose Nepali Congress said it was ready to support a coalition led by the CPN-UML.

“During our discussions we mainly focused on forging consensus and cooperation among the political parties,” Prachanda told mediapersons after the meeting.

They discussed the formation of a new government, the stalled peace process and the decision of President Ram Baran Yadav to retain army chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal despite the Maoist-led cabinet’s decision to remove him.

The Maoist leader, who had resigned as premier on Monday following months-long bitter row with Katawal, yesterday also met his former ally and CPN-UML leader Jhalanath Khanal, who is widely tipped to be the next Prime Minister.

The NC and CPN-UML are holding key meetings to discuss the formation of a government, for which the President has set up a Saturday deadline.

Both parties need support from the Terai-based Madhesi parties to stitch a majority in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.

Top NC leader KP Sitaula indicated that his party’s “first preference” is to form a consensus government.

In case that was not acceptable to other parties, it “wants the UML to lead and we will support it”.

The Nepali Congress has already extended its support to the CPN-UML to form a new coalition government.

“We have already decided to support the UML-led government and it is up to the UML to decide how it is going to form the new government,” said NC acting president Sushil Koirala.

Meanwhile, the Maoists held rallies in Kathmandu Valley today against the President’s move to retain the army chief.

Maoist cadres affiliated to ethnic group -Newa Mukti Morcha- also rallied in the capital, carrying banners demanding resignation of the President and shouting slogans against the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Gen Katawal.

The Maoists have also disrupted Parliament, seeking the sacking of the army
chief. — PTI

As government troops captured another earth bund built by the LTTE and advanced into the last few kilometers of land still under the control of Tamil Tigers, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said talks of a ceasefire with the Tigers was now “redundant”.

The troops captured an earth bund at Karayamulliavaikkal in the northern Mullaithivu district after heavy confrontations on Wednesday in which a large number of LTTE cadres were killed, the Defence Ministry said.

The military advances came as Rajapaksa told members of the Diplomatic Community in Colombo that the humanitarian operations in the north were coming to an end and the country was about to be salvaged from the scourge of terrorism.

“The war with the LTTE is rapidly nearing its conclusion and it is my hope that this will create the space for democracy to flourish in the north again,” he said.

He also told the diplomats that the government was compelled to take military action against the LTTE only as a last resort after all attempts to engage them in meaningful negotiations failed.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa on Thursday said over two lakh Tamil civilians had been rescued from the “clutches” of the LTTE since January.

“I am glad that over 2,00,000 civilians have been able to escape from the LTTE due to the meticulous operations of the armed forces,” Rajapaksa said in an address to the diplomatic community here.

Pakistan on Thursday said the transit trade agreement inked in Washington by Pakistan and Afghanistan for opening up land route to trade between India and Afghanistan via Wagah border, would not cover India.

“This is a bilateral agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan that will be finalised by the end of this year,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters at the weekly briefing while responding to questions.

“We will negotiate with India any future arrangement once the Pak-Afghan accord is clinched,” the spokesman said.

Pakistan and India have been discussing the issue for past nearly four decades without any breakthrough.

In the recent years, India has been invoking the South Asia Free Trade Arrangement (SAFTA) under which member countries of the 7-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are obliged to allow transit trade to each other.

While the security forces have appeared to launch a full-scale offensive against militants in Swat area, Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Thursday reaffirmed determination to confront militancy and sought requisite resources and full backing of the nation in the current fight.

“The present security situation requires that all elements of national power should work in close harmony to fight menace of terrorism and extremism,” General Kayani said while presiding over a meeting of corps commanders at GHQ in Rawalpindi.

He said the Pakistan army had developed full-scale facilities to focus on Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) related operations.

“The Pakistan army is fully aware of the gravity of internal threat. It will employ requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the militants,” he said.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of what appeared to be sudden intensification of army operation against Taliban that extended to several areas of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir.

Army gunship, planes and artillery targeted militants’ positions in these areas, claiming to have killed dozens of them. Security forces also lost nine troop during fierce fighting in Matta and Hangu area.

It was not clear who fired the shell but it is the military that generally uses artillery. The militants tend to fire rockets and smaller weapons.

Toronto, May 7
India-origin Canadian MP Ruby Dhalla, rated the world’s “third hottest” politician, is battling calls for a probe against her for having allegedly illtreated two nannies at her family home - just two months after she was embroiled in a controversy over her reported steamy scenes in a Bollywood movie.

Magdalene Gordo, 31, and Richelyn Tongson, 37, who were hired to take care of Dhalla’s mother, publicly alleged that they were mistreated by the MP and her family.

The nannies claim that they were forced to work up to 16 hours a day, their passports were taken away and they were made to do non-nanny jobs like washing cars, shining shoes and cleaning the family-owned chiropractic clinic.

A former Miss India-Canada runner-up, 35-year-old Dhalla is a trained chiropractic
practitioner. Migrante, an alliance of organisations of caregivers in Canada, on
Tuesday demanded an investigation against Dhalla for her alleged illtreatment of
the two nannies.

It said the report of abuse “belies Dr. Dhalla’s claims to champion causes important to families and to raise awareness among women of ethnic communities”.

Dhalla’s actions violated “labour standards as well as the Immigration Act”, the
caregivers’ body added.

However, the three-time MP from the Indian-dominated constituency of Brampton-Springdale on the outskirts of Toronto has denied the allegations.

In a statement to the local media, Dhalla said she had “no knowledge of the details regarding the live-in caregivers for her family”. — IANS