Nepal's multi-party government and leftist rebels signed a
landmark peace accord Tuesday that declared a formal end to a
decade-old civil war that has killed more than 13,000 people.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and leftist rebel leader
Prachanda signed the deal which comes seven months after King
Gyanendra surrendered power to political parties following weeks of
often violent street protests.
"The accord puts an end to the long conflict," Nepal's interior
minister and chief government negotiator Krishna Prasad Sitaula
said.
The deal paves the way for the insurgents to be separated from
their arms and confined to UN-monitored camps in the run-up to
elections for an assembly that will draft a new constitution and
decide the future of the monarchy.
It also clears the way for the insurgents to join an interim
government that will oversee the elections, and for the rebels to
take seats with elected politicians in an interim parliament.
The rebels have been fighting to abolish Nepal's more than
200-year-old monarchy and say the assembly vote satisfies their key
demand. They have vowed to honor the outcome even if the assembly
decides to maintain a ceremonial monarch.
The rebels and government have observed a ceasefire for more
than six months, but human rights groups say extortion and
conscription by the rebels have continued.
Earlier this month, the ruling seven-party alliance and the
leftists struck a deal under which the guerrillas agreed to
restrict their fighters to 28 camps and store their weapons in
UN-supervised containers.
In return, the state army will remain in barracks and an equal
number of its arms will be locked up in the run-up to the assembly
election meant to be held by June 2007.
Analysts said the success of the deal would depend partly on the
behavior of the leftist fighters who have already started arriving
in temporary camps in the countryside.
The United States, which still considers the leftist fighters
terrorists, says the rebels must change their ways if they want to
be treated like a genuine political party.
Last week, rebel chief Prachanda said he believed peace was
coming to the restive Himalayan nation of 26 million people but
could not rule out a return to armed struggle until his 35,000
fighters were merged with the state army.
(China Daily November 22, 2006)
