Kathmandu, June 30
Nepal’s embattled Prime Minister Madhav Kumar today announced his resignation in a TV address to the nation to seek an end to the political impasse as he succumbed to intense pressure from the opposition Maoists to make way for a “consensus” national government. “I tender my resignation for the sake of consensus and to pave way for ending the ongoing political stalemate,” he said while announcing his resignation.

The Maoists have been demanding his resignation for months and the formation a new national government led by them.

The Prime Minister, who resigned from the post after 13 months in power, said he still commands majority in Parliament with the support from 22 political parties. “I believe that the Maoists will now fulfill their commitment to complete the peace process after my resignation,” the 57-year-old prime minister said in a televised address to the nation.

He was hinting that the Maoists should return the seized property, dissolve their paramilitary organisation the Young Communist League and agree to manage their combatants as per the three point agreement they inked with the major coalition partners on May 28 while extending the term of the Constituent Assembly.

The PM had also agreed to resign at the earliest under three-point agreement. In his address to the nation the PM has complained that he has not received cooperation from the Maoists, which hindered in the peace process.

He also mentioned about the Maoists’ continued blockade of the Parliament, street movement and non-cooperation. He held mainly the Maoists responsible for failing to draft the constitution on time and completing the peace process.

He also pointed out that the Maoists combatants need to be integrated and rehabilitated within the next three months in order to complete the peace process.

The Prime Minister also underlined the need for forging cooperation and collaboration among all political parties saying that without this the peace process could not be completed and the task of writing the constitution could not be accomplished.

The Prime Minister’s resignation comes at a time when the Maoists have warned to obstruct the budget session of the Parliament that would begin on July 5. The government was planning to announce the budget for the new fiscal year by mid-July.

Prior to announcing the resignation the Prime Minister had held consultation with the top leaders of the ruling alliance at his residence at Baluwatar this afternoon.

The Maoists had been pressing for the Prime Minister to resign for months aiming to form a Maoist led government. The Prime Minister, however, said that he had tendered the resignation despite having majority support from 22 political parties. — PTI 

Washington, June 30
Busting of a Russian spy network that included “deep cover” agents, is unlikely to have any adverse impact on US-Russia relationship, which has improved significantly under the Obama Administration, the White House has said.

An image taken from Russian social networking site ‘Odnoklassniki’ shows a woman journalists have identified as Anna Chapman, who appeared at a hearing in a New York federal court on Monday. — AP/PTI

“I do not believe that this will affect the reset of our relationship with Russia,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.

He was flooded with questions about the arrest of 11 individuals by the FBI on Monday including eight “deep cover” agents, spying for the Russian spy network.

“We have made great progress in the past year and a half, working on issues of mutual concern from a New START treaty to working together on things like in the United Nations dealing with North Korea and Iran. So I do not think that this will affect those relations,” Gibbs said.

The President knew about the network, before he met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, but the issues were not discussed when the two leaders met at White House last week, he said.

“This was an action that was taken by law enforcement, handled that way, handled appropriately, and done in a timely manner,” Gibbs said as he tried to downplay on the impact this incident would have on US-Russia relationship. “This will not (affect the policy of reset).” — PTI 

Kabul, June 30
Militants set off a car bomb and stormed the entrance to a major NATO air base in eastern Afghanistan today, authorities said. Eight insurgents died in the failed assault.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the third ground assault against a major coalition base in the past five weeks. The attacks failed to overrun the bases but showed that the Taliban have not been cowed by US efforts to ramp up the war.

Using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the militants battled US and Afghan forces for 30 minutes around the airport on the outskirts of Jalalabad city, the media office at the airport said. White smoke rose from the scene.

An Afghan solider and one international service member were wounded in the fighting, NATO said.

“They were not able to breach the perimeter. They were fought off by a combination of Afghan and coalition security forces,” German army Brig Gen Josef Blotz, a spokesman for NATO, told reporters.

The airport, which includes a major military base shared by Afghans and the international force, on a main road that leads to the Pakistani border. — AP