Dahal refutes threat-to-life reports

DHANGADHI, Jan 10: UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday refuted news reports saying that his life was under threat.



Talking to media persons upon his arrival at Dhangadhi Airport, he blamed media for sensationalizing his statements. [break]



"In my speech on Saturday, I didn´t raise the issue of security threat. It was exaggerated by the media. Hope the mofussil journalists won´t distort my statements," Dahal said.



Arguing that there is always security threat to a patriot and revolutionary, he said that there was no point to say the obvious matter. "Security threat to me was more serious in the past," he added.



He said what he meant is the reason behind the assassination of former King Birendra and UML leader Madan Bhandari might be their stance in favor of national sovereignty and national interests.



He claimed that all the leaders who have stood against the recently-formed High Level Political Mechanism have been speaking the voice of foreigners.







"It shows that foreigners´ stooges have a strong presence in all the political parties," he said.



He said that the mechanism would include other political parties including Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF) and Tarai Madhes Democratic Party in the mechanism. Clarifying its objectives, Dahal said the body would focus on taking the peace process to a logical conclusion, forging consensus on constitution writing and ending the ongoing political deadlock.



According to him, the first meeting of the mechanism would discuss issues of army integration and rehabilitation, political deadlock and president´s move.



In another context, he criticized Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal´s recent remarks on Maoists. "The world is laughing at Prime Minister Madhav Nepal after he announced to make Maoists like LTTE [of Sri Lanka]. This is a ridiculous, shameful and hateful statement."



The Maoist chief also claimed that he didn´t speak against India due to the southern neighbor´s obstruction in his bid for prime ministership.



He refuted media reports about intra-party dispute in the Maoist party. "Baburam and me were together in a function in Biratnagar yesterday [Saturday] only. We have no differences on the issues of national sovereignty and civilian supremacy," Dahal said.

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