NEPAL: Nepal government and Maoist rebels sign peace deal

Nepal's government and Maoist rebels declared a formal end to a decade-old civil war on Tuesday (November 21) in an accord they called a victory for peace and democracy in one of the world's poorest countries. Nepalis lit candles outside their doors in Kathmandu to celebrate after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, signed the deal to end a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people. It comes seven months after King Gyanendra returned power to the country's main political parties following weeks of often violent street protests. "The government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist have agreed to convert the ongoing ceasefire into a permanent truce and declare that the war which began in Feb. 1996 is over," said the accord, written in Nepali. The deal paves the way for the insurgents to hand over their arms and be confined to U.N.-monitored camps in the run-up to elections for an assembly that will draft a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy. It also clears the way for the insurgents to join an interim government that will oversee the elections, and for the rebels to take seats with elected politicians in an interim parliament. The rebels have been fighting to abolish Nepal's more than 200-year-old monarchy and say the assembly vote satisfies their key demand. They have vowed to honour the outcome even if the assembly decides to maintain a ceremonial monarch. The rebels and government have observed a ceasefire for more than six months, but human rights groups say extortion and conscription by the rebels have continued or even accelerated. On Tuesday, both sides renewed a commitment to uphold human rights, respect international humanitarian laws, and end extortion, intimidation, kidnapping and disappearances. Earlier this month, the ruling seven-party alliance and the Maoists struck a deal under which the guerrillas agreed to restrict their fighters to 28 camps and store their weapons in U.N.-supervised containers. In return, the state army will remain in barracks and an equal number of its arms will be locked up in the run-up to the assembly election meant to be held by June 2007. The United States, the U.N. and neighbouring India promised to back the accord, but New Delhi and Washington warned both sides peace would depend on them honouring their commitments.

ITN Source | November 22, 2006

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