Nepal Maoists dissolve parallel governments

NEPAL: Nepal's Maoists dissolved their "people's government" which had controlled large swathes of the Himalayan nation as part of a peace deal to end a bloody decade-long insurgency.

The announcement ending the Maoists' sway over major areas of the countryside followed the entry by the ultra-leftists into parliament alongside the seven main political parties Monday after a new temporary constitution was approved stripping King Gyanendra of his status as head of state.

"As per the agreement reached with the government, our party declares that the people's governments and people's courts run by our party in the past have been dissolved from today," Maoist chairman Prachanda said in a statement.

"The interim government will run all local-level governments in the future," said the former rebel leader.

Under a historic peace pact in November, the Maoists agreed to end their "people's war" to install a communist republic, in which at least 12,500 people were killed, and join mainstream politics.

The announcement came as Maoists handed over more weapons to United Nations monitors on Thursday, the second day of a process that is a key element of the peace deal, former rebel leaders said.

The handover began Wednesday at two sites and was due to be carried out at 28 camps, UN officials said.

"The UN has registered 750 of the 6,500 Maoist soldiers and verified their weapons in the camp so far," said Maoist division commander Samthing Buddha.

He was speaking by telephone from a camp at Chitwan, 200 kilometres (120 miles) southwest of the capital, Kathmandu.

"By Thursday evening, we estimate that as many as 1,500 PLA (People's Liberation Army) soldiers will be registered," he said.

"Each of our PLA soldiers are distributed a form to fill out their details and are photographed by the UN officials for their records.

"The registration process is going smoothly."

From a second camp at Nawalparasi, another Maoist commander called Pratikchhya said more than 250 former rebels registered with UN on Thursday.

"Our party wants to request the UN to speed up the registration process, as there are 5,200 PLA personnel in our cantonment site in Nawalparasi," 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the capital, he added.

Weapons were being stored in UN containers, but media have not been allowed to witness the handover.

KATHMANDU, Friday, AFP