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Texas, May 4 Christian Newswire: "Nepal needs an
absolute miracle," said Gospel for Asia President K.P.
Yohannan after reviewing reports from Christian leaders
in the strifetorn Himalayan country. "Right now we have
a high emergency, but what is worse is that things could
go back to the guerrilla warfare that we had for the
past 10 years.”
Dr. Yohannan expressed concern on behalf of the 300
churches and 2 Bible colleges that his ministry helps
support in Nepal. As he spoke en route back to the U.S.,
pro- and anti-Maoist demonstrators were burning tires
and blocking streets in Nepal's capital city of
Kathmandu.
The crisis began over a simmering dispute between the
ruling Maoist party, which won the most recent
elections, and the opposition over the integration of
former Maoist rebel fighters into Nepal's regular army.
The peace accord that ended the decadelong civil war
calls for the rebel soldiers to be taken into the army.
But the question that has divided the government is how
fast the integration should take place and whether
individual former rebels should be screened before their
acceptance into the military.
The dispute broke into the open when the Maoist Prime
Minister, Prachanda, tried to fire the army's top
general. Nepal's President, Ram Baran Yadev, a member of
the main opposition party, told the general not to quit.
In what has been seen as a positive sign in support of
Nepal's fledgling democracy, Prachanda chose to resign
rather than escalate the situation.
Hopefully, his move will avoid action by the 19,000
former rebel fighters now confined to UN-supervised
barracks. But in truth, no one knows what tomorrow may
bring.
"We are terribly concerned about the future of Nepal,"
Dr. Yohannan said, "and we ask that Christians around
the world pray for this volatile situation."
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