No change yet in Maoists' status as terrorist outfit: US official

No change yet in Maoists' status as terrorist outfit: US official
A senior US official has said that there has been no change yet in the status of Maoists as a terrorist outfit despite their winning the election. But the official has hinted that there could be review in their legal position.

"We have an organization being placed on the list of designated foreign terrorists organizations. (It) has legal requirements that are placed on us. We have to honour those legal requirements and we'll certainly do so in the case of Nepal," State Department's Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said.

Hinting of a possible review, he said, "You have an organization that moves away from violence and terror and participates in a political process and engages in those kinds of legitimate activities, that would certainly, I think, give people an opportunity to at least look again at that situation and that organisation," he said.

"But at this point, you know there's no change in their status and we'll follow the law as appropriate".

The United States had first put the former rebels on its list of terrorist organisations in 2003.

The US ambassador to Nepal Nancy Powell has already indicated that the US would continue helping in the economic development of Nepal in the coming days.