Disagreeing over certain points of the government's letter to the UN, Maoist supremo Prachanda wrote a separate letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday.

Prachanda's letter states that government's 2 July letter to the UN 'was written and sent unilaterally and secretively without any consultation with us and is a direct violation of the spirit of ongoing negotiation between the Government of Nepal and Maoists'. He adds that although it has been three weeks since the government sent the letter to the UN, he only recently got to read it, which is why the Maoists could not respond earlier.

'Points 3 and 4 in the government's letter is in complete violation of November 2005's 12-point understanding and 16 June's 8-point Agreement reached between the two sides,' the letter says. Prachanda points out that clause-3 of the 8-point agreement clearly states: 'To request the United Nations to assist in the management of the armies and arms of both sides and to monitor it for a free and fair election to the constituent assembly'.

Prachanda says that 'any talk of decommissioning' of arms of only the PLA before the election to the constituent assembly is just unthinkable'. He also claims that Nepal Army is still loyal to the monarchy and stresses that democratic restructuring of the NA and keeping it under credible international monitoring is more crucial to ensure free and fair elections to the constituent assembly.

In the letter sent to UN Secretary-General Annan on 2 July, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala asked the UN to assist in monitoring and decommissioning of Maoist arms. Nepal government's letter also requested the UN to assist them in ensuring that Nepal Army is not being used for or against any side. The Parliamentary Committee made this letter public on 19 July.