World

Nepal under shadows of a military coup.

by israeli.agent | May 3, 2009 at 08:01 pm

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Prachanda - Rebel chief turned prime minister of Nepal - has sacked the Chief of Nepali army despite the opposition from some other parties of his government.

But Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav ordered the country's army chief to stay in his job on Monday. Looks like a power struggle is going on between the prime minister and the military.

Being the head of the state and the supreme commander of the Nepal Army I order you to continue with your duty," President Ram Baran Yadav said in a letter sent to General Rookmangud Katawal.

Nepal was thrown into fresh political crisis on Sunday after prime minister Prachanda sacked the country’s army chief Rookmangud Katawal leading to fears of an army coup.

The fallout of the decision was immediate with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), a key Maoist ally, withdrawing support to the government undermining the political stability of the shaky coalition. The standoff between the army and the Maoists has been brewing for weeks and has now finally come to a head.

New Delhi had urged caution and asked Mr Prachanda to wait till Gen Katawal’s retirement in August. For India the concern is the fallout of the decision on the peace deal. Sources said that the multi-layered consensus, which is key to the peace deal, is breaking down in Nepal.

The decision to sack the army chief was taken at special cabinet meeting that was boycotted by four key allies of the coalition pointing to the politically divisive nature of the decision. “The army chief was removed because he failed to give satisfactory explanation on why the government orders were ignored,” information minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara was quoted as saying.