| nEWS |
Posted
on 19-Sep-01 11:08 AM
KATHMANDU, Sept. 18 — Nepal will free 41 Maoist rebels ahead of new round of peace talks aimed at ending their five-year insurgency across the Himalayan kingdom, officials said on Wednesday.
Maoist negotiators and a government team have already held two rounds of talks but the rebels have insisted on freedom for detained comrades before more talks.
''The cabinet has decided to withdraw cases against the rebels,'' Home (interior) Secretary Srikant Regmi told Reuters.
He said the detainees would be freed after court formalities were completed and that could take some time.
The rebels have called for an interim government and a new constitution to end the monarchy in the world's only Hindu kingdom where the king is regarded as an incarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu god of protection.
The rebels say the traditional monarchy ended with the massacre of King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family in June. A royal panel blamed Crown Prince Dipendra, who killed himself after the massacre.
But the government says the future of the monarchy is non-negotiable although it is ready to discuss social and economic reform.
The two sides met in August for the first time since the rebellion began in early 1996, seeking to end the violence which has killed some 1,800 people. The insurgency has also hurt the economy of the impoverished country.
Chief rebel negotiator Krishna Bahadur Mahara last week demanded the release of more than 200 jailed Maoists during talks with the government's negotiator, Physical Planning and Works Minister Chiranjivi Wagle.
The Home Ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday cases would be withdrawn and amnesties granted to another 188 rebels.
The government has urged the rebels, who are considered ideologically close to Peru's Shining Path guerrillas, to release more than 200 of their captives and to stop extortion.
The government has freed 53 rebels since the current peace process started. The rebels have released dozens of policemen captured during raids on isolated security posts.
No date has yet been set for the next round of talks.
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