Supplies resume in Nepal after rebels end blockade

KATHMANDU, Mar 20 (Reuters) Packed buses and trucks loaded with supplies rolled across restive Nepal today after Maoist rebels called off a road blockade that had interrupted commerce and transport across the Himalayan nation for six days.

But even as the Maoists ended their siege of Kathmandu and other towns after an appeal from the country's seven main political parties, they endorsed a new series of protests planned for early next month.

The rebels and the parties also reaffirmed their ''strong commitment'' yesterday to a deal they struck last November to work together against King Gyanendra, who seized power last year.

The blockade had choked supplies since Tuesday, raising prices of essential goods, causing fuel shortages and leaving thousands stranded across the nation that is wedged between China and India.

''Passengers carrying their bags are running to catch buses, and trucks loaded with goods have started moving since early morning,'' said Sagar Adhikary, a resident of Narayanghat, a town seen as the gateway to Kathmandu from the southern plains.

Maoists had mainly enforced the blockade by threatening reprisals against anyone who broke it. They also set up some roadblocks and sporadically attacked vehicles.

The rebels also called off a general strike planned for April 3.

But they endorsed a strike and series of protests called by political parties beginning on April 6, in what analysts interpreted as a reaffirmation of their loose alliance.

The alliance had run into trouble in recent months, with political parties alleging the rebels had continued to kidnap, extort and kill civilians. The Maoists had criticised the parties for not being able to mount sustained mass protests against the king.

''This shows that the Maoists and political parties are committed to their understanding reached four months ago -- to end the autocratic monarchy,'' said Padma Ratna Tuladhar, who mediated the failed peace talks between the rebels and the government in 2001 and 2003.

''Now it seems that they are prepared to fully implement the understanding,'' he said.

In November, Maoists also promised to rejoin the political mainstream in return for a promise by political parties to hold elections to an assembly that would draw up a new constitution to decide on the role of the monarchy, a key rebel demand.

The Maoists began fighting in 1996 to topple the Hindu monarchy and set up a communist republic in one of the world's 10 poorest countries.

They hold sway over much of the Himalayan nation's rugged countryside and have vowed to expand their war to the national capital and other cities.

Nepal has been in turmoil since the king took power last year, saying his move was necessary to quell the 10-year revolt that has killed more than 13,000 people and shattered an economy dependent on aid and tourism.

The Kathmandu Post newspaper urged today Maoists to call a new ceasefire. The rebels last called a ceasefire in September but called it off in January after the government refused to follow suit.

REUTERS KD PM1232