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Posted
on 24-Nov-00 11:10 AM
Another Nepali Ambassador to USA Recalled
Kathmandu, Nov.24: Another Nepali Ambassador to the United States, Damodar Gautam, has been recalled abruptly after completing only two years of a four year term, a senior Nepali official said Friday.
None of the five ambassadors have completed their assignments in the USA in the last decade.
He would not confirm the reason for Gautam's recall. This is the second time that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has recalled an envoy from Washington D.C.
Earlier, Koirala unceremoniously recalled Yog Prasad Upadhaya, a protege of former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and a harsh critic of the present present Prime Minister. Reports then said Koirala was angered because of the perceived neglect shown by Upadhaya when Koirala was in New York in to address the annual session of the UN General Assembly. But the victim this time is a retired senior civil servant and not an activist of the ruling Nepali Congress party. Gautam was appointed Nepali envoy after retiring as the chief secretary-the topmost job for a civil servant.
Four Nepali ambassadors to Washington D.C. also did not complete their tenure. Mohan Man Sainju, a Panchayat appointee, was recalled after the downfall of the system in 1990; Bashudeb Dhungana, an appointee of the first communist government of Nepal, was recalled by Sher Bahadur Deuba who appointed Dr. Bhek Bahadur Thapa to the post; Thapa was transferred to India without completing his tenure.
The present government rejected President Bill Clinton's appointment of Thomas Furey as Ambassador to replace Ralph Frank who was designated Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi earlier this year; Frank continues to be the US Ambassador in Nepal after the rejection of a public announcement by the White House. A group raised a hue and cry about Furey's alleged racial bias during an earlier assignment to Nepal in the 1970's. nepalnews.com br
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