Norwegian minister to visit Nepal to push talks

Oslo, Apr 28: Norway's senior peace mediator will fly to Nepal next week to try to push along talks between the government and Maoist rebels and to help re-establish democracy, the Norwegian government said today.

Protests forced Nepal's King Gyanendra to bow to an alliance on Tuesday and reinstate parliament that has been suspended since 2002.

The king assumed absolute powers last year.

The Norwegians are trying to set up a meeting with leaders of Maoist rebels who have waged an insurgency for years in which 13,000 people have died.

''We hope this will also strengthen the basis for resolving the armed conflict in the country through negotiations with the Maoists,'' said Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim, who visits Nepal next week.

Solheim is a member of the Socialist Left party and a leader of Norway's peace mediation team between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers that organised the 2002 truce.

Solheim will be in Nepal from May 2 until May 5 and his office said he will meet the 84-year-old Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and other political leaders to discuss Nepal reinstalling democracy.

REUTERS

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