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| Saturday, 16 October 2004 |
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Indian Maoist rebels set to open landmark talks HYDERABAD, India, Friday (Reuters) Maoist rebels in southern India, fighting for decades for land for the poor and dispossessed, will hold their first ever peace talks with state authorities. The talks between the People War's Group (PWG) and the Andhra Pradesh state government were expected to set the stage for dialogue with other bands of leftist rebels in poverty-stricken parts of five other Indian states. The Andhra Pradesh government said it wanted a good atmosphere to ensure progress in the landmark talks. "We do not want to impose any restrictions or conditions which will put a spoke in the peace talks. We will not do anything that will cause a setback for peace efforts," Andhra Pradesh interior minister Jana Reddy said on Thursday. About 6,000 people have been killed in the insurgency in Andhra Pradesh since the 1960s but the violence has fallen off almost completely in the past few months as both sides prepared for the talks. The government and the rebels agreed to a truce in June and the state lifted a 12-year-old ban on the PWG in July. Rebel leaders walked out of the forest on Monday at Srisailam, about 230 km (143 miles) south of Hyderabad, and were given an enthusiastic welcome by supporters. |
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