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| Tuesday, 8 February 2005 |
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Nepali govt offers unconditional talks with Maoists KATHMANDU, Monday (AFP) Nepal's new government headed by the king has offered to hold unconditional talks with Maoist rebels to end an insurgency that has claimed more than 11,000 lives, state media said Monday. The rebels have previously said they will negotiate only with King Gyanendra or his representatives under an international mediator, with an agenda that includes electing a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. "Now they should come for dialogue without any conditions," said a government statement, adding that those issues can be discussed if the rebels agree to meet a committee of cabinet ministers which has still to be appointed. Gyanendra, who controls the army, last week fired the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to organise elections and for failing to end the Maoist insurgency. He named a loyalist cabinet under his chairmanship, declared a state of emergency and pledged to restore multi-party democracy in three years. However, in India two senior Nepalese politicians leading a group of six who fled across the border at the weekend, urged the Maoists not to listen to Gyanendra. "We today appeal to the Maoists not to hold talks with the king .... they should seek a democratic solution to their demands," said Dilendra Bood, a senior figure and former education minister in Nepal. |
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