NEPAL: Government and rebels peace talks end with no result

Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel chief Prachanda failed once again on Sunday (October 15, 2006) to bridge key differences in their crucial peace talks, negotiators said. The result was disappointing for the many people who gathered outside the Prime Minister's residence in Kathmandu to voice their opinions on the matters, mostly dealing with the role of the monarchy and arms management. "Historical unfolding is slowly taking place, I feel," Hisla Yami, a member of the Maoist Party, said hopefully before the participants arrived. "The whole people are watching and all of you are also the part of whole mission." Optimistic there would be a fruitful exchange, several demonstrators came to the Prime Minister's residence to voice their views. "The mandate of the people's movement is the end of the monarchy and the formation of People's Republic," said Civic Society leader Shyam Shrestha, whose group was holding a peaceful sit-in. Others came to the scene of the talks to tell their own stories of how they had been treated by Maoists. "Maoists expelled us along with the child and sold the house. They did not provide us clothes to wear, they ate our buffaloes. The Maoists ate our cows as well and they did not give us clothes as well," said one victim. Despite a long wait and large gathering, the talk ended without any decision, and although both sides said they would meet again, no date for fresh dialogue has been set. The main sticking points that have blocked a deal in the previous three rounds of talks in a week between Koirala and Prachanda were disputes over the disarming of the rebel army and the future of the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan nation. More than 13,000 people have died since the Maoists began an armed campaign in 1996 to turn Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries, into a communist state. Both sides said more preparations were needed before the next round but pointed out they had been "very close" to a breakthrough at the end of each previous round of talks. Prachanda and other rebel negotiators were guarded by Maoist guards on motorcycles and vans as they arrived at Koirala's high-security residence for the talks. Maoist cadres with headbands with the red star symbol on them stopped traffic and pedestrians in the area as hundreds of their supporters carrying placards and banners reading "Conclude peace talks quickly" demonstrated outside the venue. The Maoists have said they would launch street protests and bring the capital Kathmandu to a halt if talks failed. The edgy peace process began in May soon after King Gyanendra ceded absolute powers following democracy protests organised by political parties and supported by the Maoists. Koirala insists the rebels surrender their weapons before joining an interim administration that is meant to oversee elections for the assembly which will draft a new constitution. The Maoists say they would rather stay out of the administration than lay down their weapons. They also want the monarchy to be suspended pending the assembly vote or a referendum be held to decide its future. The two sides have agreed for elections to a constituent assembly to be held by June 2007, a key Maoist demand to end their anti-monarchy revolt.

ITN Source | October 16, 2006

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