Kathmandu - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu Friday evening for a two-day visit. During his stay in Nepal, Ban is scheduled to meet Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav and other politicians.
Talks with Nepalese leaders are expected to focus on the UN role in the country's peace process as well as hurdles seen in the integration of former Maoist rebels into the national army.
The UN formally became involve with Nepal's peace process following the signing of a peace accord between the Maoist rebels and the government led by then-prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) is involved in monitoring thousands of former rebel fighters who were disarmed and are kept in 28 UN-monitored camps across Nepal. Of the original 31,000 Maoist combatants, just over 19,000 passed the UN's rigid verification process for integrating them in the country's security bodies.
Disqualified combatants include nearly 4,000 minors and those recruited by the Maoists following the cease-fire announcement in May 2006 May.
Nearly 14,000 people died in the communist insurgency which eventually led to the abolition of Nepal's monarchy earlier this year.
Ban will also visit Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha, about 200 kilometres south-west of Kathmandu, on Saturday before leaving for Bangladesh.
