Kathmandu: In a major set back to Nepal's ruling Maoists' effort to mainstream its party, the US administration has maintained the ultra left group on its latest terror blacklist.
The US Department of States 2008 country reports, released in Washington on Thursday, said though the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) won the Constituent Assembly election in 2008 and took control of the government, it remained a US-designated terrorist entity under the Terrorism Exclusion List.
The US report on Nepal blamed the Young Communist League (YCL), the semi-combatant youth wing of the party for continuing violence despite the former rebels joining the landmark peace process in the country.
Even as the United States is not yet prepared to strike the Maoists from its terrorist blacklists, Washington has reversed its previous policy of not dealing with ultra left group.
Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda met former US President George W Bush during his September visit to New York to attend the UN Summit.
The Maoists, who waged a decade-long insurgency, joined mainstream politics after a 2006 peace deal with the interim government led by G P Koirala.