Nepal Govt. ready for talks with Maoist rebels

KATHMANDU, APRIL 8. The Nepal government is ready for talks with Maoist rebels to end a bloody conflict, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Ram Chandra Poudel, said today.

He said the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is fighting to topple the kingdom's 11-year-old constitutional monarchy, was not serious about a meaningful dialogue.

Mr. Poudel's comments came after the rebels killed 69 police officers in a series of attacks on security posts in less than a week.

``The government is always ready for talks,'' Mr. Poudel said, ``but they (the rebels) are not honest for the meeting.'' The rebels' recent violence showed they were not serious about a dialogue. ``If they are serious for the meeting, why are they killing people?''

Mr. Poudel, who has charge of the interior ministry, did not comment on Saturday's call by Maoist party leader, Mr. Prachanda, for a meeting. The rebel leader said his party was ready for talks with ``all parties'' to help form an interim government and prepare a new constitution. He did not elaborate.

The rebels insist the government was not serious about the meeting.

In the past, the rebels have demanded that the government release their jailed leaders and end police operations against their members before launching talks.

Two of last week's attacks were the biggest on police posts since the rebels took up arms campaigning for a one-party Communist republic in the world's only Hindu kingdom.

Last October, Mr. Poudel met the Maoist leader, Mr. Rabindra Shrestha, informally to discuss the possibility of official talks aimed at ending violence that has so far claimed 1,658 lives, including 344 policemen. That was the closest the two sides have come since the Maoist insurgency began in February 1996. - Reuters

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Section  : International
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