Nepal's Maoist leader warned of mass protests in the streets of the capital Kathmandu if rebel demands for the election of a body to rewrite the country's constitution were not met. "If a free and fair environment for constituent assembly elections is not created, we will launch a capital-centred revolution where we hope thousands of people will participate," Prachanda told a rally in the capital.The rally was staged to commemorate those killed in weeks of violent protests that forced King Gyanendra to give up absolute rule in the kingdom in April and hand power to an interim multi-party government. Under the peace process launched soon after Gyanendra handed back power seized from lawmakers in February 2005, a power-sharing government of Maoists and political parties is to be created until elections to a constituent assembly can be held next year. The assembly will rewrite the Himalayan country's constitution.
Nepal's Maoist rebels and the government have been observing a ceasefire for the last four months after jointly organizing the mass protests which led to the king's climbdown.