Nepal king calls for peace, silent on truce

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s King Gyanendra, facing a
Maoist revolt and politically isolated after snatching power,
has called for peace but ignored a rebel truce many hope could
lead to end years of war.

The King, who fired a multiparty government on February 1,
is under pressure to restore democracy and match a temporary
but unilateral cease-fire the Maoists declared in September.

The guerillas fighting for a communist state in the world’s
only Himalayan kingdom, extended the truce on Friday for
another month in response to popular and political pressure.

But he made no comment about the truce. His government says
the rebels use cease-fires to rearm and regroup.

“Restoration of a lasting peace and a meaningful exercise
in multiparty democracy is what Nepal needs,” the King said in
a customary statement late on Friday after returning from a
tour of Africa following a South Asian summit in Bangladesh
last month.

More than 12,500 people, many civilians, have been killed
in the Maoist conflict that has crippled the aid-dependent
economy and scared away investors and tourists.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who urged the
Maoists last week to extend the truce, has welcomed the move
and has urged the royal government to declare its own
cease-fire.

Nepal’s key donors, including the United States, want the
King to restore democracy and resume failed peace talks.

He has asked political parties, who have forged a loose
understanding with the Maoists, to participate in municipal
elections due on February 8.

“Any contribution toward strengthening this situation which
will restore sustainable peace and enable the elected
representatives to govern is praiseworthy,” King Gyanendra
said.

The parties have vowed to boycott the polls, calling them
meaningless as long as the King holds absolute power.

Hours before King Gyanendra returned, tens of thousands of
people marched in Kathmandu in a rally organized by the
Communist Party of Nepal-UML, second largest party, to press
him to return power to the parties.