NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Pushpa Adhikari in Kathmandu
The Nepalese government has appointed a team to negotiate with the Maoist rebels on ending their six-year-long insurgency, three days after the rebels named their representatives for the talks.
Chiranjivi Wagle, minister for housing and physical planning, has been named convenor of the talks. The prime minister's office, in a statement, had invited the Maoists for ten-day negotiations.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's government has assured the rebels that it will take full responsibility for their three-member negotiating team. It has, however, not made the name of its own negotiator public. The venue of the talks too has been kept a secret.
The statement asked the Maoists, fighting to establish a republic in Nepal, to stop making anti-monarchy statements and end violent activities during the talks.
It, however, said, "The government is serious about talks and has taken maximum restraint. This should not be misconstrued as a weakness."
Jaya Prakash Gupta, the Cabinet spokesman and communication minister, said the government had decided to release all Maoist rebels in judicial custody. "It is yet another gesture of the government to the rebels," Gupta said.
Talks between the government and the rebels had collapsed in November last year after the administration released senior Maoist leaders Dinesh Sharma and Dinanath Gautam, without notifying the intermediary or other Maoist leaders.
Gupta had initiated the release and was strongly criticised for the move that the Maoists saw as a conspiracy. After the incident, the rebels had declared that they would not talk to the government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
Indo-Asian News Service
EARLIER REPORTS: Maoists announce negotiating team for talks Nepal's PM invites Maoists for talks
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
