Nepal needs to tackle unrest before polls: UN
Ethnic unrest in southern Nepal that has blighted the country's fragile peace process has to be tackled before crucial polls to decide Nepal's political future, the United Nations said yesterday.
On the other hand thousands of supporters of Nepal's main political parties rallied in the capital Monday to mark the beginning of the campaign for elections that will determine the country's new political direction.
Since Maoist rebels and mainstream parties signed a peace deal in November 2006, around a dozen armed ethnic groups have emerged in the southern Terai region and at least 200 people have died in the unrest.
Activists from the area say the government has not addressed the concerns of the traditionally marginalised people from the plains -- known as Mahadhesis -- who make up around half of Nepal's 27 million-strong population.
"There are urgent measures that need to be taken to improve the security situation" in the southern Terai region, said Ian Martin, the head of the UN peace mission to Nepal.
Meanwhile, supporters of the seven political parties in the ruling coalition, including the former communist rebels widely known as Maoists, marched through the main streets of Katmandu and gathered at the rally ground in the heart of city.
There were no reports of any violence or trouble and hundreds of policemen were posted in the main areas.
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