Nepal’s Maoist rebels likely to join interim government

NEPAL: Nepal’s former communist rebels were set to join an interim government on Friday as part of a peace process aimed at ending years of conflict in this Himalayan nation, officials said.

“The prime minister is making last-minute preparations and the announcement is likely to be made today,” said Minister for Works and Physical Planning Gopalman Shrestha.

Leaders of the seven political parties already in government were to meet with Maoists on Friday to complete months of negotiations on a new interim government. There have been disagreements over who gets which ministries and the post of deputy prime minister.

Shrestha said a new Cabinet would be announced Friday, and that initially it would only include a few ministers and be expanded later on. He did not say how many ministers would form the new Cabinet.

The ex-guerrillas will join the government as part of a peace process, which began last year after the rebels ended their decade-long insurgency and entered peace talks with the government.

They have since signed a peace accord, locked up their weapons, confined their fighters in camps monitored by the U.N. and joined the country’s Parliament.

The interim government will hold elections later this year for a special assembly which will rewrite the constitution and decide whether Nepal - which has long been a constitutional monarchy - will continue to have a king.

Katmandu, Friday, AP