Assam rebels to hold talks with Indian Govt

GUWAHATI, India, Thursday (Reuters) The Indian government and representatives of a powerful insurgent group in Assam state will likely hold talks next month for the first time since the rebellion began 26 years ago, a mediator said.

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which is fighting for independence for Assam, is setting up an eight-member team comprising human rights activists and lawyers to hold the initial round of talks, mediator and noted Assamese author Mamoni Raisom Goswami said on Thursday.

"Talks between the team members and government officials are tentatively fixed in the first week of October," he told Reuters. But he did not give any details.

In January, ULFA said it was ready to hold talks with the Indian government. But no terms have yet been spelled out.

Formed in 1979, ULFA is fighting for freedom for an estimated 26 million people, accusing the federal government of taking away Assam's mineral and forest resources and neglecting the local economy.

More than 15,000 people have been killed in the insurgency in Assam in nearly three decades. It is one of seven states in India's northeast, a region racked by dozens of insurgencies.