Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal agreed late Monday to ask the United Nations to extend its mission to the country by four months, and for the last time. The mandate of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), which has been monitoring Nepal's peace process since 2007, is set to expire on Wednesday, according to dpa. According to their four-point agreement, the integration of the former Maoist combatants should be completed within a period of four months. The government and Maoists also agreed to implement pacts struck in the past, under the peace deal which was signed in 2006, ending a decade-long civil war. The issue of extension of the UNMIN has long been a matter of debate among Nepalese politicians. Monday's agreement came after the Maoists and the government sent separate request to the UN last week, with conflicting conditions. Over 19,000 Maoist combatants live under UN supervision in seven cantonments across Nepal. The Maoists waged a decade-long war to establish a communist state, in which nearly 14,000 people died.
