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| Wednesday, 24 March 2004 |
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Annan urges Nepal's government, Maoist rebels to cease fighting UNITED NATIONS, Tuesday (AFP,Reuters) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday urged Nepal's government and Maoist rebels to take "immediate steps" to cease fighting and revive a peace process following a heavy gunbattle between the two sides over the weekend. Weekend clashes in Nepal claimed the lives of 500 militants, according to Nepal's army. But the Maoist rebels say the army's claim was untrue, and that just 40 of their number were killed. "The secretary general does not believe there is a military solution to the conflict," a spokesman for Annan said in a statement. "He appeals to his majesty's government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal to take immediate steps to end the fighting and resume the peace process with the participation of all political and civil forces in the country," the statement said. It added that Annan was "disturbed" by the recent escalation in fighting in the small kingdom nestled between southern China and northern India. Annan said he stands ready to assist in the search for a solution to the crisis, which the statement said was "having an increasingly devastating impact on the lives of ordinary people." Meanwhile Nepali forces dug up bodies of Maoist rebels and searched for scores of missing police after what could be one of the bloodiest battles in the kingdom's brutal eight-year rebellion. The rebels' elusive leader also vowed to continue raids on government targets despite Sunday's 12-hour gunbattle in western Nepal in which the army says 500 guerrillas had died, 28 police and soldiers and four civilians were killed. "The armed attacks will continue until a progressive political solution has been reached," Maoist chief Prachanda, who goes by the one name, said in a statement to local media. As buildings still smouldered a day after the attack, police and troops said they had found the bodies of 100 guerrillas. "Some bodies were found buried in the banks of the Kali River," Interior ministry spokesman Gopendra Bahadur Pandey told reporters. "The search is continuing." The Maoists routinely carry their dead away from encounters, often burying them in the soft sand near rivers and dry river beds. Fifty-eight police and district officials are missing. It is not known if how many soldiers are also missing. And there was no independent confirmation of the official tally. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy casualties and understate their own. Nepali newspapers quoted rebel sources saying they had killed 150 soldiers and police and lost less than 40 of their own. If the official toll is true, it would be the bloodiest single battle since the revolt began in the world's only Hindu kingdom in 1996, devastating the tourism and farm dependent economy. More than 9,000 people, most of them rebels, have died. The battle began just before midnight on Saturday when rebels swooped down from surrounding hills and stormed a bank, a jail and government buildings in the town of Beni, about 280 km (175 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. Both sides used mortars at close range and the Maoists freed 33 people from the jail, mainly fellow rebels, officials said. On Monday, unexploded crude bombs still littered the deserted streets of the riverside town which is on the way to scenic Mustang district, popular with foreign hikers. Even before Sunday's attack, the violence had increased dramatically. Since peace talks broke down in August - more than 2,000 people have died since then. Several attempts at peace have failed over core issues such as the ultimate fate of the monarchy, in the hands of unpopular King Gyanendra after former King Birendra and several other royals were massacred by the then Crown Prince in 2001. |
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