Maoists to hold first rally in Nepal capital in three yrs

NEPAL: Nepal's Maoist rebels are set to hold their first mass rally in Kathmandu in over three years in what their chief negotiator said would be a peaceful demonstration after a ceasefire declared in April.

The Maoists, whose violent campaign has claimed thousands of lives, have held rallies outside the capital to publicise their political agenda since Nepal's new multi-party government last month matched an earlier ceasefire declared by the militants.

Thousands of posters bearing the portraits of Prachanda, the elusive Maoist chief, have been put up in the ancient temple-studded city, although organisers said he would not be present.

"Rumours are being spread against the rally that we will display our arms," chief rebel negotiator and Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told reporters.

"We will not carry arms or wear combat dress," he said. "It will be a peaceful rally."

A pro-Maoist student group organised a rally in Kathmandu in April after weeks of street protests forced King Gyanendra to give up his absolute power, reinstate the parliament disbanded in 2002 and return power to political parties.

Thousands of people were expected to march in from the suburbs to an open air theatre in the heart of the capital, barely 500 metres (yards) from the royal palace, organisers said.

Media reports said people were being brought by rebels in hundreds of buses to fill the venue. The rally was expected to start around noon (0615 GMT).

"Unconditional constituent assembly," read a huge Maoist banner that hung from an iron railing near the venue.

Last week, the multi-party government and the Maoists held their first meeting since 2003 and agreed to hold elections to a constituent assembly to decide the monarchy's future, a key Maoist demand.

Mahara said the parliament should be dissolved and the constitution scrapped before that.

"We are demanding a national political conference to draft an interim constitution and an interim government to organise early elections for the constituent assembly," he said.

The Maoist insurgency has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 1996 and wrecked the economy of the tourism and aid-dependent kingdom.

Kathmandu, Friday, Reuters