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King Gyanendra to seek peace talks with rebels
 Nepal's newly appointed royalist government will soon appoint negotiators who will seek unconditional peace talks with Maoist rebels, local media reported on Monday. It is the first attempt to find a peaceful end to a bloody Maoist revolt since King Gyanendra seized power a week ago, but is also being twinned with an increased army offensive and an appeal for the guerrillas to give up their weapons. "(The government) is going to form a dialogue committee that will hold a dialogue with the Maoists soon," Culture and Aviation Minister Buddhiraj Bajracharya said, according to the Kathmandu Post. "Now they should come for dialogue without any condition." The Maoists had maintained they wanted to deal directly with the king rather than a puppet government, but they have also condemned his sudden assumption of power and suspension of democracy as "the last writhing of the feudal autocracy". The rebels have called for an indefinite blockade and traffic strike throughout the country from Feb 13, the ninth anniversary of the beginning of their insurgency. A former mediator close to the Maoists said the confrontational style of the king's statement when he assumed power last week made it very unlikely the rebels would come for talks. Bajracharya, one of the most senior members of Gyanendra's new 10-member cabinet, also said the king did not plan to ban political parties, despite arresting party leaders when he sacked the government last week. Posted by: Fred 2005-02-08 |
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