2007年VOA标准英语-UN Remains Hopeful on Nepal Peace Deal Despite

By Liam Cochrane
Kathmandu
16 July 2007

Nepalese Maoist rebels train at a camp in Makwanpur, south of Kathmandu (File)

Nepal's former Maoist rebels are refusing to allow United Nations officials to continue verifications called for in the agreement that brought peace to the Himalayan nation. But as Liam Cochrane reports from Kathmandu, the U.N. still hopes to be able to continue the verification process.

This is the third time the Maoists have postponed¹ the verification process.

U.N. experts have been interviewing the more than 30,000 Nepalese the Maoists claim as genuine fighters, trying to make sure that none of the fighters is under the age of 18. They also want to weed out any who were recruited after the peace process began.

But when Maoist party leaders saw the results of interviews with the first three thousand fighters, they suspended the process, saying they wanted further discussions.

Ian Martin heads the U.N.'s Mission in Nepal, known as UNMIN. He said Monday that discussions are important, but they should not delay the verifications.

"I remind everyone that the Agreement on Monitoring the Management of Arms and Armies was negotiated between the Maoists and the then seven-party alliance government," Martin said. "It was they [the Maoists] who agreed upon the criteria² which UNMIN has been asked to apply, and it is their responsibility now to enable us to do so in a spirit of cooperation."

Those criteria include the discharge of any child soldiers, and the discharge of anyone recruited after the peace process began. The children are to be reintegrated into their home communities with the help of the United Nations.

Martin told reporters that he met with the Maoist chairman, Prachanda, last Thursday, and expects to meet him again soon to discuss resuming the verification process.

Martin declined to say how many Maoists were disqualified after the first round of interviews, or when that information might be made public. He says that Maoist commanders are disputing some of the U.N.'s conclusions, and he says a limited number of cases may be reviewed.

"But it's not a matter of political negotiation³ or compromise, it's a matter of UNMIN … making the best judgment⁴ they can on the basis of two criteria which were negotiated and agreed between the parties," he said.

As part of the peace agreement, the Maoists agreed to keep their fighters in seven camps across the country. They also locked up almost 3,000 weapons, under U.N. supervision⁵.

The verification process with the remaining 28,000 registered Maoists is supposed to be completed before elections are held in November.

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。