Nepal government, rebels try to overcome rift

Kathmandu, Oct 15: Nepali government negotiators and Maoist rebels raced against time to overcome rifts in their peace process today, hours before a meeting between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and rebel leader Prachanda.

The main disputes are over disarming the rebel army and the future of the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan nation.

Today's meeting is the fourth in a week between the two leaders and both sides had said they had been ''very close'' to a breakthrough at the end of each round of previous talks.

''The dialogue is at a crucial stage but is positively moving ahead,'' said Ram Chandra Poudel, a senior leader of Koirala's Nepali Congress party, the biggest group in the ruling seven-party alliance.

The rebels, who want the monarchy to be abolished, were more cautious.

''We are close to a deal. But there are ups and downs. The situation is still fluid,'' Maoist negotiator Dev Gurung said, as middle-level representatives from the two sides met to find a way out of the dispute.

The rebels say they will launch street protests and bring the capital Kathmandu to a halt if talks fail.

The edgy peace process began in May soon after King Gyanendra ceded absolute powers following democracy protests organised by the political parties and supported by the Maoists.

The two sides have already agreed for elections to a constituent assembly to be held by June 2007, a key Maoist demand to end their anti-monarchy revolt.

Koirala insists that the rebels surrender their weapons before joining an interim administration that is meant to oversee elections for the assembly which will draft a new constitution.

The Maoists say they would rather stay out of the administration than lay down their weapons. They also want the monarchy to be suspended pending the assembly vote or a referendum be held to decide its future.

''The government may agree on the referendum and the Maoists could keep their weapons under UN supervision as a compromise,'' said Shiva Gaunle, editor of the news magazine Himal.

More than 13,000 people have died since the Maoists began an armed campaign in 1996 to turn Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries, into a communist state.

REUTERS

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