Dutch negotiator to mediate between India, Naga rebels

GUWAHATI, India, Monday (AFP) A Dutch negotiator has been appointed to help save an eight-year-old ceasefire between New Delhi and a separatist group in the northeastern state of Nagaland, a rebel leader said.

Oscar Fernandes, a federal minister, and leader of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) formally nominated Michael C. van Walt van Praag from the Netherlands to mediate between the two sides last week in Bangkok.

"The talks in Bangkok were almost on the verge of collapse with the Indian government failing to respond positively to our demands," said senior NSCN-IM leader Kraibo Chawang.

"Praag's intervention helped in saving the peace process from breaking down," Chawang told AFP by telephone from Nagaland's commercial hub of Dimapur.

The NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire in August 1997, but the truce expires on January 31.

The last round of two-day peace talks ended in the Thai capital Bangkok on December 17.

"Praag would be playing the role of a facilitator or a peace broker and he is expected to submit a list of independent proposals to resolve the problem in fresh talks next month," Chawang said.

"The proposals may not be acceptable to us or to the Indian government, but his impartial role we believe could bring in positive results and also help patching up differences between our group and New Delhi."

Praag is the head of a Hague-based organization called Kreddha, which works for the prevention and resolution of violent conflicts within existing states.

"Michael has been unofficially assisting the two sides in the talks since 2001 and only now his role as a negotiator has been formalized," the rebel leader said.

An internationally acclaimed rights campaigner, Praag was earlier the general secretary of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation.