Bush to 'support' Maoist govt in Nepal

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda, whose CPN-Maoist party remains on the US terrorist watch list, met American president George Bush in New York, where the former guerrilla leader is leading a delegation to the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
 
Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is popularly known as Prachanda, met President Bush during a dinner reception hosted by the US government on Monday.
 
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is heading the coalition after it emerged as the single largest party in Nepal's April 10 Constituent Assembly Election, continues to be on the United States terrorist watch list.
 
During the meeting, Prachanda sought US help and cooperation for Nepals economic progress.
 
"We will continue to support Nepal," Bush told Prachanda, according to officials.
 
The Maoist dominated government dailies and pro-Maoist newspapers claimed that the meeting was a "grand success" for the Prime Minister.
 
The meeting between the two leaders took place at a dinner reception hosted by the US first Lady Laura Bush to welcome the foreign dignitaries participating in the UN general assembly (UNGA) in New York.
 
The Nepalese leader accompanied by his wife Sita, son Prakash and daughter Renu, is currently in the US, where he went shortly after returning from his first trip to India after becoming the Prime Minister of the Himalayan state.