Kathmandu: The United States is likely to drop Nepal's Maoists from its list of terrorist groups in an effort to cosy up to the former rebels who are set to lead the new government after the CPN-Maoists emerged as the single largest party in last month's Constituent Assembly polls.

"The US government has been reviewing its policy towards Nepal and was doing the necessary homework to remove the CPN-M from its terrorist list," said Williams S Martin, Head of the Political and Economic Affairs section at the US Embassy here.

Washington is also considering to withdraw the negative travel advisory on Nepal that asked American citizens to be alert while visiting the Himalayan nation, he said yesterday during an interaction programme with the Nepalese business community.

The US move comes shortly after Maoist chairman Prachanda met US envoy Nancy J Powell last week, the first ever official contact between the Maoists and the US government.

Powell had then said the decision on whether to lift the terror tag will take some time and asked the Maoists to show respect for democratic norms.

The US had cautiously welcomed the poll results in which the Maoists emerged as the largest party saying there were reports that the bulk of violations were committed by the Maoists, though the election was largely peacefully conducted.

The US government has also said that it would continue its assistance to Nepal.

Source : PTI