Senior UN envoy Brahimi heads to Nepal

As part of the United Nations' ongoing effort to help find a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Nepal, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending his Special Adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, to meet with top officials in the strife-torn Himalayan kingdom.

Mr. Brahimi will visit Nepal from 10 to 15 July and is expected to meet with King Gyanendra, senior Government officials, leaders of political parties and a cross-section of representatives of Nepalese society.

In April, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and the Government signed an agreement to set up a monitoring operation to help establish accountability for rights abuses and prevent further violations by all sides in the nine-year-old armed conflict with Maoist rebels.

Two UN teams visited the country that month, looking into the needs of an expanded UN rights office there and examining the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs).