Date:24/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/24/stories/2007012406381800.htm

International

Bid to defuse tension

Ameet Dhakal

KATHMANDU: The Government on Tuesday invited the Madheshee People's Rights Forum (MPRF) and two factions of the Janatantirk Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) for talks to defuse the growing violence in Lahan, eastern town in Nepal. Chairman of the Forum Upendra Yadav has welcomed the decision but will respond only if it gets a written invitation. The JTMM factions, both of which have been waging an armed insurgency in Terai, are yet to responded to the call. The situation remains tense and the local administration has extended curfew for the fourth consecutive day. Things flared up in Lahan after a 16-year old student died in a clash between the Maoist cadres and the Forum activists on Friday.