Rebels say they will join Nepal's new interim govt
Nepal’s Maoist rebels, who have waged a decade-long war to seize control of the Himalayan nation, will join an interim government to be formed shortly, the rebels’ leader said today after meeting with top government officials.
The interim government will be created within one month, rebel leader Prachanda told reporters, announcing an agreement between the Maoists and the country’s nascent democratic government.
“This is a historic decision and will move the country in a new direction,” he said after his unprecedented day-long meeting with the new prime minister and leaders of all the seven political parties in the ruling alliance.
The interim government, which will eventually create a new permanent constitution, will replace the current national parliament as well as the Maoists’ “people’s government,” which rules over the territory they control.
The agreement also calls for the creation of an interim constitution and United Nations oversight of both the Nepalese soldiers and Maoist fighters. It made no mention, however, of disarmament.
The announcement followed talks that began early in the morning, when Prachanda was flown to Kathmandu in a government helicopter, and did not end until well after nightfall.
Prachanda and a deputy were escorted into the official residence of Prime Minster Girija Prasad Koirala under heavy security. Soon after, the heads of the political parties joined them.
It was the first time Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, had met the country’s top leadership since the insurgency began in 1996. For years, he was seldom seen at all, appearing only occasionally in remote villages controlled by the rebels.
For a decade, Prachanda has been Nepal’s most elusive figure, the son of a farmer and one-time schoolteacher whose rebel movement had taken control of wide swathes of rural Nepal, one of the world’s poorest nations, during their war to create a communist nation.
Officials said Home Minister Krishna Sitaula had flown by helicopter this morning to an unspecified location in western Nepal to pick up Prachanda and bring him back to Kathmandu.
The meeting came after government and rebel negotiators met yesterday for their second round of peace talks, agreeing to form a monitoring committee of peace activists and human rights workers with help from the United Nations.
The first round of talks to end the conflict took place last month, when the two sides agreed on a code of conduct and said they would meet again. The years of fighting have left some 13,000 people dead and badly damaged Nepal’s all-important tourism industry.
Nepal’s new government took office after King Gyanendra agreed to relinquish control in April following weeks of anti-monarchy protests and a general strike.
The unrest was organised largely by the politicians now in power and backed by the rebels – a bond that smoothed the way for the peace dialogue.
The new government has released hundreds of rebels from jail, dropped terrorism charges against them, and agreed to a ceasefire. It also has agreed to rewrite the constitution, a key rebel demand that crippled peace talks in 2001 and 2003.
