Civil war murder arrest in Nepal

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Military police in Nepal have arrested an army major for the murder of a girl of 15 during the Maoist insurgency in what may prove to be a landmark case.

They detained Maj Niranjan Basnet as he arrived at Kathmandu airport after being expelled from the African state of Chad by UN peacekeepers there.

He had been serving with the UN force, Nepalese media report.

More than 13,000 people died during Nepal's conflict but no one has been prosecuted for human rights abuses.

Maj Basnet was expelled by the UN force responsible for Chad and the Central African Republic (Minurcat) reportedly because of the charges levelled against him in Nepal.

A Nepalese army spokesperson told the Nepalese news website myrepublica.com that the army had begun an investigation into the cause of his repatriation, and he would not be handed over to the civil authorities until it was completed.

Military custody

The officer is one of four soldiers accused of torturing to death Maina Sunuwar, a suspected Maoist activist, in 2004.

She was killed in February of that year at the army's Birendra Peacekeeping Training Centre in Panchakhal, myrepublica.com reports.

The army say they have disciplined more than 60 personnel for abuses during Nepal's 10-year civil conflict, including the three other soldiers accused of Maina Sunuwar's killing.

Advocacy Forum, a non-governmental organisation providing legal aid to the dead girl's family, called on the army to hand Maj Basnet over to civil police immediately.

The army spokesperson said it could "not be predicted how long the investigation" would take.

Should the military decide to hand over Maj Basnet, he will be the first high-level officer to be tried in a civilian court for human rights violations, the BBC's Joanna Jolly reports from Kathmandu.

Nepal provides one of the biggest contingents for UN peacekeeping, with 4,335 soldiers and police deployed worldwide as of 30 November, out of a total UN peacekeeping strength of 98,114.