Embassy Row

Angry in Nepal

Several lawmakers in Nepal yesterday accused U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty of interfering in the country’s domestic affairs, and one legislator called for his expulsion from the Himalayan nation.

“He is acting more like a political leader than a diplomat,” Lilamani Pokhrel said during a session of Nepal’s House of Representatives. The legislator from the People’s Front Nepal party also denounced Mr. Moriarty’s visit last week to army barracks in western Nepal.

Narayan Man Bijukchhe, president of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, complained that Mr. Moriarty’s comments about the government’s relations with Maoist rebels “clearly undermined” the country’s sovereignty.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of a Marxist political alliance, said, “It would be better if diplomats abide by diplomatic rules.”

Mr. Moriarty on Saturday told reporters in the capital, Katmandu, that he had visited western Nepal to “make an assessment of the political situation in rural Nepal and get firsthand information about the activities of Maoist guerrillas.”

He said the rebels still employ extortion, intimidation and abductions to control parts of the country, according to a report from the Kyodo News.

Earlier this year, the ambassador persuaded the government to reject rebel demands for power-sharing unless they first lay down their arms. He said the United States would cut off $45 million in annual aid if the government gave in to the rebel demands.

Diplomatic traffic

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:

Today

• President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland, who participates in the Washington Summit on Climate Stabilization. Sir Crispin Tickell of Britain’s Climate Institute and chancellor of the University of Kent, and A. Barrie Pittock of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s Marine and Atmospheric Research, address the conference tomorrow.

• Madan M. Dulloo, minister of foreign affairs, international trade and cooperation of Mauritius. He attends a signing ceremony on a U.S.-Mauritius trade agreement. He is accompanied by Anund Priyay Neewoor, secretary for foreign affairs.

• S.K. Tikoo, Hindu leader of a Muslim political party comprising former Kashmiri militants. He addresses the Indo-American Kashmir Forum on “The Rise of Counter-Insurgency in Kashmir and the Myth of the Separatist Kashmiri Muslim.”

Tomorrow

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