US may lift terrorist tag off Maoists

In response to repeated pleas from the Unified CPN-Maoist to delist them as a terrorist organisation, visiting US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon today said the US government would consider removing the party from the list।He, however, said his government would take the decision according to the report presented by the US embassy in Nepal. “Moon said the US government would consider changing their policy towards us, removing us from the terrorist list and behaving with us as another political party,” Krishna Bahadur Mahara, the party’s foreign department chief, said after Moon’s meeting with Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ at the latter’s residence in Nayabazar this morning.Moon told mediapersons that he had discussed with the Maoist supremo peace process and other current issues. He said he was impressed by the commitment of Prachanda and stressed on the need for consensus and co-operation among political parties in order to lead the peace process to a logical conclusion.According to Mahara, they also discussed issues including