A jumbo United Nations (UN) mission held its first meeting in Kathmandu setting out on a week-long mission on Monday to find out practicalities of getting real UN monitors on the ground in Nepal, a leading newspaper, The Kathmandu Post reported on Monday.

According to the daily, the 31-member mission headed by Ian Martin, who is the UN Secretary-General's personal representative in Nepal, held its first meeting after arriving here on Saturday and Sunday for internal planning.

"It is a multi-disciplinary team to make sure we can assess and plan all of the needs the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (formerly known as guerrilla) have asked the UN for supporting the peace," Kieran Dwyer, who is also the spokesperson at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, was quoted by the daily as saying.

The members have been divided into at least nine sub-groups, military, electoral, political, de-mining, security, logistics, media, police and crosscutting issues of gender and child protection, the daily reported.

The mission will hold a press meeting at the end of this week as it completes its assessment task, according to the report.

The mission is here according to a Security Council mandate, the first of three steps of the UN's involvement.

Once the mission submits its report to the Secretary-General and the Security Council, 35 arms monitors will arrive who will be followed by 25 electoral advisors, the report added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)