US envoy must clam up or leave: Matrika Yadav

Kathmandu, May 17:

Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Martika Prasad Yadav today hit out at the US embassy here and said ambassador James F Moriarty should quit Nepal after closing the mission.

“If the US still thinks that the Maoists are terrorists and their joining the government is not acceptable, the US ambassador has no right to stay here. Embassy officials should have left Nepal the same day we joined the government,” he said at the Reporters’ Club.

He said the US running a mission in a country that has “terrorists” in the government is meaningless.

He said it is meaningless for the embassy to comment on the government formed as per the mandate of the people’s movement.

“Either they should leave Nepal or stay here calmly, considering diplomatic norms.” He accused Moriarty of acting as a spokesperson for the king.

Meanwhile, commenting on the recent sandalwood hauls, he said the Indian ambassador is not interested to take back the confiscated red sandalwood, which has to be returned to the country of origin according to the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species.

“After a series of red sandalwood hauls, I requested the Indian and Chinese embassies to check smuggling. While the Chinese ambassador has visited me twice and promised to tighten checking, the Indian ambassador has not done so.”

The government has confiscated 84 tonnes of red sandalwood brought from India to be smuggled to China since Yadav took charge of the Forest Ministry. He said the confiscated sandalwood logs will be burnt, as the Ministry doesn’t have enough space to store them. Yadav said that the Ministry he is heading is full of corrupt officials and that he “will wipe them out one after the other”.

“I asked dozens of officers and low-level staffers and they all admitted that they used to fill their pockets either through commissions or bribes for remaining silent when top officers or even the minister himself used to give green signals to smuggling of wildlife and forest products,” he said, adding that even the minister who came to take office for four days took bribe of millions of rupees. He, however, did not name the minister.