Nepal PM 'took gamble' in joining with rebels
Nepal’s prime minister said today he took a major political gamble partnering with communist rebels, which has resulted in peace being restored.
“It was a big political gamble, but I always believed that we had the responsibility to bring a non-democratic force under mainstream politics,” Prime Minister Girija Prasad said in parliament.
Maoist rebels signed an agreement with the government yesterday to join an interim government and lock up their weapons and confine their fighters under United Nations supervision.
Koirala and his Nepali Congress party had been leading the alliance of seven major political parties that partnered with the rebels last year and organised a street protest that forced King Gyanendra to give up authoritarian rule earlier this year.
Koirala praised an agreement, saying he was confident a decade-long insurgency was nearing its end.
However, he warned there were still some “reactionary forces” that could try to hamper the peace process that is leading toward crucial elections next year.
