Guerrillas Break Four-month-long Ceasefire

Nepali King Gyanendra Monday approved the decision by the Nepali government to impose a state of emergency cross the country following massive attacks at police by the underground ultra-leftist guerrillas over the weekend, the Secretariat of the Royal Palace announced Monday evening in Kathmandu.

The government decided to declare the state of emergency throughout the country in view of the terrorist attacks by the guerrillas in various parts of the country, said a notice issued by the secretariat.

The notice said that once the emergency is declared, the government will be able to control the activities of the guerrillas, their publications and mouthpiece.

More than 300 people, including policemen, army soldiers, civilians and guerrillas, have been killed since Friday night when the guerrillas broke the four-month-long ceasefire with the government and launched well-coordinated massive attacks at policeacross the country.

The government initiated peace talks with the guerrillas in August this year in order to find a peaceful solution to the six-year-long guerrillas insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives, including policemen, guerrillas and civilians, since it began in the Himalayan kingdom in 1996.

However, three rounds of talks held so far were inconclusive as the guerrillas demanded the establishment of a republican state, an interim government and a new constitution, which were all rejected by the government.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2001)