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Posted
on 18-Sep-01 10:40 AM
Nepal government lifts ban on rallies
KATHMANDU, Sept. 18 — Nepal said on Tuesday it had lifted a ban on public rallies and demonstrations in the national capital following an improvement in the law and order situation.
Nepal's centrist government banned public gatherings and rallies in all three districts of the Kathmandu valley last Saturday ahead of a massive public meeting planned by a Maoist rebel group fighting to topple the constitutional monarchy.
The rebels cancelled their plans after the ban but urged the government to remove the restriction, insisting the move could derail an ongoing peace process.
''The ban has been lifted because the law and order situation has improved now,'' Home (interior) Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka said in the Nepali parliament.
Last week, the rebels demanded an interim government, a new constitution and an end to monarchy in talks with the government to end a bloody insurgency that has claimed more than 1,800 lives since early 1996.
The government rejected the demand but has vowed to continue dialogue with the rebels to discuss plans for social and economic development.
The rebels are also asking for freedom for over 200 jailed comrades and want the government to withdraw internal security regulations, giving sweeping powers to local administrators to crush the rebellion.
They also want the government to dismantle the armed police force set up to stamp out the insurgency.
The government and the rebels, considered ideologically close to Peru's Shining Path guerrillas, first met last month.
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