Senior Nepal rebel in Kathmandu to meet government

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A senior leader of Nepal’s Maoist
rebels has arrived in Kathmandu to meet government leaders and
said on Monday he had “big hopes” for proposed peace talks.

“We have come with the message that we can establish a
peaceful and progressive Nepal,” Krishna Bahadur Mahara told
independent Nepal FM radio, a day after he arrived in the
Nepali capital.

He is to head a three-member rebel team that will holds
talks to prepare for a meeting between Maoist chief Prachanda
and Prime Minister Girija Prasasd Koirala.

The premier was sworn in last month after at least 17
people were killed and thousands wounded during weeks of
protests that forced King Gyanendra to end his 14-month-old
absolute rule.

The popular upsurge led to the setting up of a multi-party
government and the country’s parliament being reinstated.

The new parliament approved a plan to hold elections for a
special assembly to decide the future of monarchy, a key rebel
demand to end their civil war.

“We have come with big hopes this time,” said Mahara, who
is yet to emerge in public.

The government has chosen Home (interior) Minister Krishna
Prasad Sitaula to participate in the talks.

Previous peace talks with the rebels collapsed in 2001 and
2003 over the future of monarchy.

Mahara said the government was not serious then.

“This time the situation is different,” he said. “We hope
that we don’t have to take up arms again.”

The Maoists, fighting to turn Nepal into a communist state,
agreed to talks after the multi-party cabinet matched a
unilateral truce they had declared.

More than 13,000 people have died since the Maoists began
their anti-monarchy revolt in 1996.

Last week, the parliament approved sweeping curbs on the
king’s powers, including his control over the army.